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Orality+Christian Discipleship - May 2011 Ivor C Greer - 1 - ORALITY AND CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP Developing a ‘Living’ Word Ivor Calvin Greer MTh in Practical Theology Dissertation Mattersey Hall in association with Bangor University Supervisor: Paul Alexander Word Count: 18,937 May 2011

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Orality+Christian Discipleship - May 2011 Ivor C Greer

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ORALITY AND CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP Developing a ‘Living’ Word

Ivor Calvin Greer

MTh in Practical Theology Dissertation Mattersey Hall in association with Bangor University

Supervisor: Paul Alexander Word Count: 18,937

May 2011

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Acknowledgements

This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of Phil Booth.

In 1989, with his wife Meg, Phil started a ministry called Oral Communicators

Worldwide. He set up this small ministry in Bawtry Hall in South Yorkshire and

challenged my thinking in many ways. Phil’s passion and his ability think

‘outside the box’ and encourage others to do so was the start of this process.

I also wish to acknowledge the help and inspiration of many people in

Cambodia who are working to transmit the written word so that it becomes the

‘living word’ in the lives of Cambodians today. In particular, the infectious

enthusiasm of Rachel Hurley of SIL has been a real encouragement.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from:-

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Table of contents

Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... 2

Table of contents ............................................................................................. 3

Abstract ............................................................................................................ 4

Introduction ...................................................................................................... 5

Section I – The Spoken Word: Orality defined and uncovered ....................... 8

Chapter 1: Orality Defined ............................................................................... 9

Clarifying other terms used .................................................................................. 12

How is literacy measured? ................................................................................... 13

Chapter 2: Orality Uncovered ........................................................................ 16

Relationship between Orality and Literacy ........................................................... 16

Spectrum of Oral Communicators ........................................................................ 24

The size of the task .............................................................................................. 26

Section II – God’s Word: Unchanging yet Living ........................................... 30

Chapter 3: The Unchanging Word of God ...................................................... 31

The Bible as ‘God’s Word’ ................................................................................... 32

Bible Translation issues for Oral Cultures ............................................................ 37

Chapter 4: Changing Lives ............................................................................ 43

Making Disciples .................................................................................................. 43

Preaching for oral learners – is exposition possible? ........................................... 47

A ‘Note’ about Song ............................................................................................. 52

Section III – Reaching out with the spoken word .......................................... 56

Chapter 5: Tools for the Task ........................................................................ 57

Chronological Storying ......................................................................................... 58

Other initiatives (materials & training) .................................................................. 63

Chapter 6: Getting on with the Job................................................................. 65

Why is there a reluctance to embrace Oral Methods? .......................................... 65

Can Oral Transmission of God’s Word be trusted? .............................................. 67

Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 70

Bibliography ................................................................................................... 72

Appendix A – UNESCO Definition of Terms ......................................................... 76

Appendix B – Differences between Oral and Print Communicators ...................... 77

Appendix C – Tips for preaching to oral learners ................................................. 79

Appendix D – Phases of Chronological Bible Teaching (CBT) ............................. 80

Appendix E – Guidelines in producing Bible Stories ............................................. 81

Appendix F – Orality & Storytelling Resources for use in Cambodia .................... 82

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Abstract

In the twenty-first century as the evangelical church continues the task of

taking the good news to ‘every tribe and nation’, over 2,100 languages have

yet to have any part of scripture available. How can these 340 million people

be reached1? There is an additional, estimated, 4 billion people who are ‘oral

learners’ who either can’t or won’t learn through reading2. Together this

makes up at least 60% of the world’s population.

Perhaps the evangelical Christian community has become too focussed on

reading Scripture and books about the Bible rather than ‘living’ the Christian

life. This dissertation explores the development of ‘oral studies’ and the

relationship between orality and the printed word. How has this greater

understanding impacted the transmission of God’s word to oral learners?

I will explore the Bible as ‘God’s word’ and how God spoke. The dissertation

considers issues confronting Bible translation both generally and for oral

cultures. I examine whether there is an under-lying assumption that the ability

to read is necessary for believers to become mature and develop into church

leaders. I look at the biblical pattern for communication and how we can learn

from that today.

I explore the indicators of Christian maturity other than academic study and

qualifications which can help to measure the effectiveness of discipleship. I

examine the role of preaching for oral communicators and the use of song.

The dissertation outlines some of the programmes which have been

established to take the truths of God’s word to ‘oral communicators’ who live

either in a ‘primary oral’ or a ‘post-print’ culture.3

Why, when there is so much need, is there resistance among many mission

and church leaders to take up the tools that have been developed for reaching

the oral communicators? What can be done to bring about the changes

needed?

1 Figures from http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx [accessed March 2011]

2 G Lovejoy, That All May Hear, Lausanne Movement Global Conversation, Cape Town 2010

Advance Paper, http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/10363, [Accessed March 2011] 3 For definitions of these terms see pp.11-12 below

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Introduction

Oral Communicators Worldwide (OCW) part of the WEC International ‘family’

was started by Phil Booth in 1989 and was based at Bawtry Hall4. Booth had

worked in Christian Radio ministry for many years. In 1971, he was involved

in setting up Radio Worldwide (the on-going Radio training ministry of WEC5).

He had also been an early Board member of the British branch of Back to the

Bible, Good News Broadcasting Association, which was also based at Bawtry

Hall.6

Using his background in Christian radio work, Booth developed an interest in

‘orality’ and realised that there were many people groups around the world

who were ‘non-literate’. He decided to put his skills and experience to work

and established OCW to begin to challenge African pastors to recognise the

need to communicate using oral means. Through OCW, Booth also began to

train them to prepare material and scripts and to produce good quality

cassettes.

In many ways, Booth’s vision for Oral Communicators Worldwide was ahead

of its time. The term ‘oral communicators’ was rarely heard in the missions’

world and, certainly, it was not seen as a special category of the unreached

people. Up to the early 1990s, most missionaries had seen radio and other

aural (hearing) means simply as a useful addition to the ‘real’ work of Bible

translation and literacy.

But by the mid 1990’s there was an increasing number of missiologists and

practitioners who were beginning to encourage the main-stream of the world

of Christian mission to give more time and focus to the size and unique nature

of the challenge of orality. The April-June 1995 issue of the International

Journal of Frontier Missions (IJFM) was a special issue in which every article

and each author concentrated on different aspects of orality. In it, editor Hans

Weerstra writes about reaching the ‘close to two billion’ non-literate peoples of

the world (which was the estimate at that time)7 with the message of Christ:

4 See www.bawtryhall.org [accessed March 2011]

5 See www.radioworldwide.org [accessed March 2011]

6 I first met Phil Booth and became aware of the work of OCW when I began working at

Bawtry Hall in 1990. 7 For current estimates see p.27 below

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What will it take for the Gospel to be available to all the peoples of the earth—including the thousands of nonreading peoples?

L the task [is]—basic Gospel communication to lost people clustered in ethnolinguistic groups who cannot read, They are lost because the Gospel still hasn’t been brought to them in their own languages, nor has it seriously been presented to them in terms of their own cultural situations and values.8

The ministry of OCW, along with others, as I will show later, had begun to

make mission workers think about the massive hurdle (or even barrier) that

the ‘literate west’ was putting in the way of non-literate communities hearing

and understanding the gospel. The ‘standard’ practice in mission work among

‘unreached people groups’ was first to prepare them to learn to read and write

in their own heart language. Often this was a language which had not even

been written down and the whole process took years of painstaking research.9

Writing in this special 1995 edition of the IJFM, Doris Porter of SIL said, ‘We

used to think of non-print media as an “add-on” to the language program—

something extra you might do if you had the time.’10 But, as we shall see

later11 practitioners began to appreciate that this could be an essential means

of reaching the unreached. Slowly, oral means of communicating God’s word

was coming into more prominence in the work of worldwide mission.

In 1995, writing in the same issue of the IJFM, Viggo Søgaard, a consultant

for the United Bible Societies, pointed to a reluctance among decision makers

in Mission to embrace audio techniques:

The development of the audiocassette gave us a fantastic tool for bringing the Scriptures to all people. One would expect that Bible people and mission executives would jump for joy and scramble to be on the front line with audio-Scriptures, but unfortunately, to a large extent, it had to be developed against the wind.12

Søgaard urged the development of cost-effective audio recordings using

materials that were prepared for oral use rather than simply using written

translations of scripture.

8 International Journal of Frontier Mission (IJFM), Vol 12:2, Apr-Jun 1995, Editorial

9 Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.115 ; and see p.21

10 D. Porter, Article on ‘Using the Vernacular Non-Print Media’ in IJFM Vol 12:2, 1995, p.106

11 See p.24

12 Viggo Søgaard in IJFM, Vol 12:2, 1995, p.69

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After defining ‘orality’ and I will look at the extent and uncovering of orality

through the work of both secular and Christian research. I will explore the

need for evangelism and discipleship to be seen as an ongoing process and

the impact of the Bible in changing lives. The dissertation will explore the

nature of God’s word in the Bible and whether there can be confidence in the

reliability of translations which can become increasingly remote from the word

as originally given. Jews and Christians are known as ‘people of the Book’

and I will examine the place of the spoken word. I will look, briefly, at the

impact of an awareness of ‘oral learners’ on both preaching and Bible

translation

The paper will set out some of the ‘orality’ initiatives which have developed in

recent years and the co-operation between agencies demonstrated through

the creation of the International Orality Network (ION).13 It will explore whether

there is a tension between orality and literacy initiatives. Can the gospel and

teaching on discipleship be communicated effectively and in a Biblical way

when oral means are used?

I will consider barriers to the use of these tools for reaching oral learners and

how this 60 percent of the world’s population can be better served. The

dissertation will consider how to ensure that the transmission of God’s word

by oral means with remain faithful to the gospel. Changes are needed to

reach those still in need in a way that they can understand.

To reach Oral Learners for Christ we have got to become learners of orality.

13

See www.ion.org [Accessed March 2011]

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Section I – The Spoken Word:

Orality defined and uncovered

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Chapter 1: Orality Defined

What is Orality?

The adjective ‘aural’ is defined as ‘of or relating to the sense or organs of

hearing’14. In everyday usage, ‘oral’ is a more familiar term than ‘aural’. The

same dictionary, which has just one definition for ‘aural’ has seven definitions

of ‘oral’ as an adjective (including referring to the mouth and to speaking) and

one as a noun. The noun refers to an oral test or examination.15 We use our

mouths for speaking, tasting and eating. In addition, we can speak of taking

things (for example medicines) ‘orally’ – that is through the mouth. The word

‘aural’ is used less frequently because listening is a more passive experience

and the ear has primarily one function – hearing.

The noun ‘orality’ refers to the practice of relying on the spoken, rather than

the written, word for communication.16 Orality is a practice which dates from

the beginning of time right up to the present. Before writing systems were

developed, communities transferred their cultural traditions, including their

history, identity, and religion, from one generation to the next through their

stories and proverbs, poems and songs, drawings and drama, riddles and

games. The oral art forms – that is words or sounds spoken, sung or chanted

– were (and often still are) woven together with visual art into ceremonies,

dramas and rites of passage. Both historically and today, primary oral

societies pass down significant information without putting anything into

writing.

Some writers use the expression ‘oral literature’ for this range of the means of

transmitting information. Others see this as an oxymoron or contradiction in

terms.17 As a result there have been attempts to find an alternative word or

expression. For example the Kenyan novelist and critic Ngugi wa Thiong'o

14

Dictionary.com, ‘oral’ and ‘aural’ in Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Source location: HarperCollins Publishers. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com. [Accessed: April, 2011]. 15

I has occurred to me more than once that an ‘oral’ would be a less incongruous test on the subject of ‘orality than preparing a lengthy written dissertation! 16

See http://www.oralitystrategies.org [accessed 2 March 2011] 17

See quote from Harry Levin on p.18

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refers to ‘African “oralture"’; while Wikipedia claims that the Ugandan scholar

Pio Zirimu introduced the term ‘orature’.18

Following work on the impact of the spoken word on writing by scholars such

as Milman Parry and Marshall McLuhan,19 it is increasingly recognised by the

mission world that when people live by this reliance on the spoken word –

orality – it affects many things about their culture. Such people are referred to

as ‘oral communicators’ and because they cannot and do not write anything

down, they have to work more on remembering things than do those from

literate cultures. They often repeat well-known, treasured sayings and stories.

Oral communicators prefer familiar things and they may be slow to accept

new information, particularly if it does not come in a way that they can easily

memorise.20

In fact everyone, whether literate or oral, tends to enjoy a good story and both

categories will have better recall of information if it is presented in a narrative

format. But memory and recall is even more essential in oral cultures. As a

result, much effort goes into developing easily-remembered forms for every

important truth or piece of information. Proverbs, poems and songs are all

often easier to remember than simple lists of truths or facts. One of the

outcomes of research by Lord and others21 has been to discover that oral

cultures develop standard ways of structuring proverbs, poems, and stories.

Those patterns of organizing spoken language for easy recall and

presentation are also part of ‘orality’.

The issue of oral communication and its relationship with the printed word was

also taken up by Walter Ong, then Professor of Humanities in Psychiatry at

Saint Louis University and a Jesuit scholar. He makes a distinction between

‘primary orality’ (when people have had no contact with, or appreciation of,

writing) and ‘secondary orality’ (referring to those who may often depend on

the literate world but prefer oral communication which is made easier by the

18

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_literature [Accessed April 2011] 19

See section on ‘Relationship between Orality and Literacy’ starting on p.17 20

See W Ong, Orality-Literacy Studies and the Unity of the Human Race (in Oral Tradition, 2/1 1987), 21

See Chapter 2 on p.17

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use of electronic media such as phones, radio, television, computers and

digital devices of many kinds).22

Primary oral communities are a focus for the linguistic work of SIL

International. This is an educational organisation of Christian volunteers which

specialises ‘in the application of linguistic research to the literacy and

translation needs’ of the lesser-known language communities.23 SIL has more

than 4,700 personnel working on 2,000 language projects impacting about 1.2

billion people.24 The main focus of its partner organisation, Wycliffe Bible

Translators, is the provision of the Bible to every people group in their own

‘heart language’. Over 2,100 groups25 who are living in primary oral

communities remain without any access to the Bible.

If linguists and other Christian workers want those who live in an oral culture

to understand a message, it is going to be much more helpful to present it in

familiar and memorable formats. By studying orality they can get a better

understanding of how oral cultures operate. It is that understanding that will

help those reaching out to such peoples to find the best way to present the

Bible's message so that oral communicators can understand it, retain it,

benefit from it, and pass it on to others in a reliable way.

As the understanding of orality has increased through the work of Parry,

McLuhan, and Ong and others26 it has been recognised that it may not be

enough just to take written material and re-produce it in an audio format.

Making something audible does not necessarily make it into an ‘oral’ style of

communication. The same thing is true of other media products created for

literate audiences. For example the Jesus film,27 and even, as I will show

later, new Scripture translations may need to be adapted into a more aural

style for primary oral communities. Care must be taken that material does not

have ‘literate’ stylistic features that could confuse oral learners.

22

Ong, Orality and the Human Race, p.372 23

See http://www.sil.org/sil/faq.htm [accessed March 2011] 24

See 2010 SIL Update on www.sil.org [accessed March 2011] 25

Figures from http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx [accessed March 2011] 26

See section on ‘Relationship between Orality and Literacy’ starting on p.17 27

Personal email dated 1 April 2011 from WEC Missionary working in Guinea-Bissau

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Such an understanding will have an impact on the work of evangelists and

church planters working with unreached people groups as well as on the work

of linguists in surveying languages yet to be written down, in teaching literacy

and in approaching the ongoing task of Bible translation.

Clarifying other terms used

In Figure 1 on page 26, Jim Slack uses the term ‘Oral Communicator’ for

those who either cannot or prefer not to communicate by written means. In

this study, I shall use the terms ‘Oral Communicator’ (where the subject is

passing on information) or ‘Oral Learner’ (where the subject is receiving

information) as the context determines but, by and large, they can be

regarded as interchangeable.

As stated above on page 11, Ong draws a distinction between ‘primary oral

cultures’ and ‘secondary oral cultures’. Some of the characteristics found in

primary oral learners are also found in secondary oral learners as I will show

later,28 There are many secondary oral communicators who live in what could

be called a ‘post-literate’ electronic age.

Slack also follows Ong (and others) in using the terms ‘illiterate’ and ‘literate’

for his further categorisation. I wish to avoid using the word ‘illiterate’ as much

as possible. It carries a pejorative connotation which Ong refers to as ‘subtly

downgrading’29 especially if applied to whole cultures. He suggests it would

be better to use the term ‘oral’ in these instances. In highly literate cultures,

however, it could be appropriate to use the term ‘illiterate’ as there may be

some basis for the perception that it does implies a lack of education (or

application).

However, except where direct quotations are warranted, I will use the more

neutral term ‘non-literate’ in place of ‘illiterate’. While this is still focuses on

what people cannot do in a predominantly literate culture, it is a less ‘loaded’

term.

28

See pp.19-20 below 29

Ong, Orality and the Human Race, p. 372

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Ong comments that the spectrum from literacy to orality includes those at

either end who often ‘represent the haves and the have-nots in our present

world’30. Generally in a significantly literate society the inability to read is a

handicap which has such a stigma attached that those who cannot read often

go to considerable lengths to cover up.

There may sometimes be exceptions to this generalisation. In primary oral

cultures (and sometimes in non-oral cultures too), those lacking the ability to

read will not have had opportunities to learn. Such people can be very

intelligent and are likely to be very capable in other ways. In highly literate

cultures the barriers may be economic pressures including the cost of

education and the need to bring in much needed earnings for the family. In

such cases it is understandable that education is not the main priority for

many households. But in primary oral cultures, where literacy skills are not felt

to be something to aspire to, people will not perceive their lack of literacy to

be a handicap. Often their barrier will be because their language is not written.

These communities operate orally and their societies value other skills.

How is literacy measured?

It used to be that those working in western society to raise literacy levels

among adults judged competency quite narrowly as ‘the ability to read and

write a simple sentence’31. Now literacy specialists are including oral skills

within the definition and looking at ‘the capacity to read, write, speak, and

listen effectively’.32 This more recent development recognises the need to use

language in all its manifestations – whether written or oral – for effective

communication.

Different countries and agencies have their own definitions of ‘literacy’ which

makes it difficult to collect reliable global statistics. In some places, it is the

ability to read government documents or to answer questions about them that

is measured, whereas other countries base their definitions on the completion

of some stage of formal education. Accordingly, the literacy rate will vary

30

Ong, Orality and the Human Race, p.374 31

See Appendix A (UNESCO Definitions) p.77 32

See www.caliteracy.org [accessed 2 March 2011]

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according to the standards used.33 However, Paul Dyer suggests that, ‘for the

purpose of Christian discipleship, literacy would have to mean the ability to

read and comprehend a fairly advanced and complicated book (the Bible)’34.

In the United Kingdom, the Government adopted a ‘Skills for Life Strategy’ in

March 2009, to make better progress towards a target set some years earlier

of 95% of adults having at least functional levels of literacy by 2020. In order

to achieve this it identified priority learner groups as those who are

unemployed, employed but with low skills, offenders in custody and under

supervision and other groups at risk of social exclusion. 35 In carrying out

research into the effectiveness of literacy strategies researchers from

Sheffield University examined three aspects – reading comprehension (both

phonics and reading fluency ‘strands’); spelling (phonics); and writing

(sentence combining).36

The report explains ‘oral reading fluency’ as the ability to ‘read aloud to one or

more people in a rapid, accurate and expressive way, with the momentum

unbroken by the need to decode’.37 The inclusion of this strand arose from

research carried out in the US and picked up by J Kruidenier in his work on

reading instruction for adults.38

Under the reading fluency strand of the UK study, when reading aloud to one

or more of the class was introduced the adult learners (and the teachers)

found that there was a significant increase in comprehension. It was used with

learners of all ages and at all levels and there was an improvement in self-

confidence and ability in other oral skills. There was also the creation of a

class ethos and enjoyment in having peer support and the ‘gelling’ of the

class.39 This is very similar to the group and community preferences and

33

See discussion about the ‘Size of the Task’ starting on p.27 34

Paul D. Dyer, Was Jesus a Zairian? Article in International Journal of Frontier Missions, 12.2 (1995, IJFM) 35

Maxine Burton, et al., Progress for Adult Literacy Learners, (research report for National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy, 2010) [Retrieved online from http://www.nrdc.org.uk/publications_list.asp April 2011], p.6 36

Burton, (2010), Summary p.7 37

Burton, (2010), Summary p.11 38

J. Kruidenier, Research-based Principles for Adult Basic Education Reading Instruction. (Portsmouth, NH: National Institute for Literacy. 2002) 39

Burton, (2010), Summary p.51

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bonding which Ong identified in his research into primary oral communities.40

The UK report concluded that using a strategy which involved reading out

loud to a group benefited nearly all learners by speeding up comprehension

and increasing confidence and that it should be more widely used.41

40

See Ong’s comparisons in Appendix B, pp.78-79 41

Burton, (2010), Summary p.52

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Chapter 2: Orality Uncovered

Oral communication has existed from the beginning of time. Yet it is only in

relatively recent years42 that the term ‘orality’ has become more of a focus of

mission workers. Perhaps a fore-runner of this was when, as a missionary

working in Indonesia in the 1950s, Hans Rudi Weber discovered, as he tried

to disciple the young ‘illiterate’ Christians that he needed to teach about the

Christian faith ‘picturesquely and dramatically rather than intellectually and

verbally’. He published a book about his work43 which was to become an

inspiration for the later development of Chronological Bible Storying.44

In this chapter, I will examine some of the studies which have contributed to

this uncovering of the needs of oral learners.

Relationship between Orality and Literacy

The American classicist and folklorist Milman Parry (1902-1935) 45 is

sometimes credited with being the founder of the discipline of ‘Oral Tradition’.

By using textual criticism, he was able to determine that the classical poems

attributed to Homer, The Iliad and Odyssey, had been composed using

extensive fixed expressions or formulae. This pointed to their roots being in an

oral tradition rather than having been the work of one author – Homer – who

had previously been regarded as a literary genius.

This theory was later confirmed from fieldwork which he undertook in Bosnia

(former Yugoslavia) where literacy was very limited and the oral tradition was

‘purist’46 – to use Parry’s expression. His work was continued after his sudden

death by his assistant, Albert Lord, who later became a Harvard professor.

Lord’s best known work is ‘The Singer of Tales’47 which picks up the oral

tradition of poems being sung, repeated and remembered as the means of

communication.

42

See http://oralbible.com/about/history [Accessed Feb 2011] 43

Hans Rudi Weber, Communicating the Gospel to Illiterates, (London: SCM Press, 1957) 44

See ‘Chronological Storying’ p.59 45

Adam Parry, ed., The Making of Homeric Verse: The Collected Papers of Milman Parry, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1971) 46

By this he meant affected as little as possible by reading and writing 47

A. B. Lord, The Singer of Tales, (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1960).

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The developing discipline of Oral Tradition by scholars such as Parry and

Lord in the second half of the twentieth century has uncovered an elitism

which had emerged in the book-obsessed culture of the literate west. This is

touched on by Harry Levin (Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard).

In the preface to Lord’s book, ‘The Singer of Tales’, Levin wrote:

The term ‘literature’, presupposing the use of letters, assumes that verbal works of imagination are transmitted by means of writing and reading. The expression ‘oral literature’ is obviously a contradiction in terms. L The Word as spoken or sung, together with a visual image of the speaker or singer, has meanwhile been regaining its hold through electrical engineering. A culture based on the printed book 9 has bequeathed to us – along with its immeasurable riches – snobberies which ought to be cast aside. We ought to take a fresh look at tradition L as an organic habit of re-creating what has been received and is handed on.48

Later I will examine whether one of the ‘snobberies which ought to be cast

aside’ could be an underlying assumption of many discipleship programmes in

evangelical churches that written courses and tests will make better disciples

and church leaders.

Just a couple of years after Lord’s book, Marshall McLuhan published a book

which he said in the prologue was ‘complementary’ to ‘The Singer of Tales’.

This was ‘The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographical Man’,49 the

first of several works by McLuhan on the impact of printing on communication.

In ‘The Gutenberg Galaxy’,50 McLuhan explores the impact of the invention of

moveable type for printing and then the emergence of the medium of

television. This new electronic inter-dependence, McLuhan contends,

‘recreates the world in the image of a global village.’51

McLuhan’s book reflects his analysis of four epochs of history: oral tribe

culture; manuscript (writing) culture; Gutenberg galaxy (printing culture); and

the electric (electronic) age. At each stage, the emergence of a new ‘process’

is responsible for the discontinuity between one time period and the next.

48

Lord, Preface p. xiii (My italics). 49

Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographical Man (1962), prologue. For an assessment of the origins of the term ‘global village’ see article by Eric McLuhan at http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/mcluhan-studies/v1_iss2/1_2art2.htm [accessed March 2011] 50

‘Gutenberg’ is a reference to the fifteenth century German printer who invented moveable type and the printing process. 51

McLuhan, p [Gloss 31]

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Hand-writing undermined the oral phase; printing the writing culture; and

electric devices (by which he meant radio, telephone, and television) the

printing phase. McLuhan saw the last transition as more complex and

McLuhan, predicted some of the effects of the World Wide Web 30 years

before it became a reality.52

Instead of all our senses performing common functions in communication,

these developments highlighted the dominance of the visual. Now the ‘printed

word’ could be reproduced accurately and swiftly as could the electronically

recorded ‘spoken word’. This was in stark contrast to the earlier oral culture of

what McLuhan calls ‘the resonating diversity of spoken words.’53 This

resulted in what he calls ‘Gutenberg Man’. Human beings did not just have to

learn to use the new inventions but actually had to ‘re-invent’ themselves and

their thought processes as well.

The impact of printing hastened the demise of speech as the primary means

of communication because of the massive boost given to literacy. But it also,

in what McLuhan calls ‘the electric age’, gave the spoken word an opportunity

to reassert itself through electronics and recordings. When Ong (who had

earlier studied under McLuhan), published his book on ‘Orality and Literacy’ in

1983 it soon became a seminal work on the subject.54 Writing from the

perspective of twenty years later, Ong underlined the differences between

these two categories identified by McLuhan by using the terms ‘primary’ and

‘secondary’ oral cultures.55

Ong further explored the emergence of this ‘secondary’ orality and addressed

some of the issues that led McLuhan to talk about Gutenberg Man. He used

the term ‘typographic’ to mean ‘print orientated’.56 He describes how Europe,

as a ‘literate’ culture, moved on from having a significant residue of primary

orality. He contends that this was when irregularities and illegibility of writing

was replaced by consistency and readability of the printed page.

52

Such as the use of the term ‘global village’. 53

McLuhan, p.136 54 Walter J Ong, Orality and Literacy: Technologizing of the Word, (London, Routledge, 1983) 55

Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.31 56

Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.135

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Ong highlights another consequence of the printed page and one which is

significant for the present study. For centuries, reading, initially from written

text and then from the printed page, was normally done aloud usually to a

group of listeners. Ong points out that as printing became more widespread,

‘the lingering hearing-dominance in the world of thought and expression’ was

replaced by ‘sight-dominance.’ ‘Words became symbols of meaning apart

from sound, and reading became silent.’57 It quickly became the exception to

have people reading aloud to groups. This brought changes to the way that

people thought and communicated and, as a result, primary orality largely

disappeared.58

Many of the differences which Ong identifies between oral and print

communicators are listed in Appendix B.59 The main theme of his book could

be summed up as:

Without writing, the literate mind would not and could not think as it does, not only when engaged in writing but normally even when it is composing its thoughts in oral form. More than any other single invention, writing has transformed human consciousness.60

Some orality scholars and practitioners are reassessing or even questioning

Ong’s conclusions.61 There is a concern that he saw cultures too much as

either ‘oral’ or ‘literate’. Although Ong did recognise that there was a

continuum, he saw that as a transition phase from one to the other. One of his

critics is James Gee62 who points out that Ong took specific work by Lord and

others on the powerful rhythm of an epic poem (such as by Homer)63 and

transformed this into ‘a sweeping statement about orality and literacy as a

great divide in human culture.’ 64

57

Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.131 58

Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.119,122 59

See pp.78-79 60

Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.78 61

eg in a personal email dated 21 March 2011, Wayne Dye commented ‘the Walter Ong theories about the nature of oral people don’t hold up 9 In particular oral people frequently employ syllogistic logic, languages that are all oral may or may not prefer poetry and repetition’ 62

J. P. Gee, What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy, revised and updated. (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) 63

J. P. Gee, Orality and literacy: From, The Savage Mind to Ways with Words, in Language and Literacy in Social Practice. Clevedon, Philadelphia, (Adelaide, Multilingual Matters/The Open University, 1990) p.172 64

Gee, Orality and literacy, p.173

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Gee, on the other hand, sees both ‘literacy’ and ‘orality’ as sub-categories of

the use of language. He argues that it is ‘language use’ that is taught in

schools and it is necessary to use a broader definition of ‘literacy’ than

primarily reading and writing.65 Gee points out, for example, that there are

many visual images and symbols that can have a specific and unique

significance without ‘words’. Language is by no means the only system of

communication. Gee talks of ‘visual literacy’ and gives examples of ‘reading’

visual advertising; interior home designs; and videos on MTV.66 The idea of

this mix of ‘multimodal literacy’, with a combination of words and images are

all part of Gee’s concept of ‘new literacies.’67 Gee points out that we never

just read or write; rather, we always read or write ‘something in some way’. In

other words, according to which type of text we read there are different ways

in which we read depending on the ‘rules’ of how to read such a text.

Another critic of Ong’s conclusions is Ruth Finnegan. She has written from the

perspective of her experience of oral cultures in Africa.68 While Ong focussed

on the differences, she has identified similarities and connections in the use of

language in both its written and oral forms. She talks of oral art and

performances as ‘oral literature’.69 Using this term advisedly, she comments

that she has ‘long held the view that there is nothing strange or unusual in the

interaction of oral and written forms.’70 Finnegan goes on to challenge some

of Ong’s views by stating that these interactions should not be regarded as

purely ‘transitional’ for the time when an individual or community is moving

from an oral to a literate culture.

In his writing, Ong pays little regard to the fact that even in the most literate

cultures, many people appreciate (and often prefer) communicating orally. In

spite of these shortcomings and the rather sweeping nature of Ong’s

conclusions, there is no doubt that he has shone a spotlight on the subject of

‘orality’ and drew attention of both academics and practitioners to the needs of

65

Gee, What video games, p.13 66

Gee, What video games, p.13 67

Gee, What video games, p.14 68 Ruth Finnegan, The Oral and Beyond: Doing Things with Words in Africa. (Chicago,

University of Chicago Press, 2007) 69

For a discussion of alternatives to the use of the term ‘oral literature’, see pp.10-11 above. 70

Finnegan, p.147

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oral communities. The publication of his book in 1982 was very influential in

the development of oral studies.

Writing in 1981 in ‘The Oral and the Written Gospel’, Werner Kelber notes that

work done by scholars such as Lord, Parry and Ong (in America) as well as

Finnegan and Goody (from Britain) has significantly advanced the

understanding of oral cultures. But he goes on to say that biblical scholarship

in Europe and America has largely neglected the significance of these studies

in their work. Kelber suggests that the main reason for this is that biblical

scholars tend to think ‘in literary, linear, and visual terms.’71 Part of the reason

for writing his book was to develop a ‘new model of 9 processes of oral

transmission based on the Anglo-American studies in orality.’72

UNESCO in its EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006 entitled ‘Literacy for

Life’,73 picks up the change in thought processes that Ong identified as being

involved in moving from an oral to a literate culture. It says that writing

produces linear thought patterns that encourage analytical thinking.74

In the field of education over recent years there has been an on-going debate

about how best to teach literacy and reading skills. A common understanding

of literacy is the acquisition of skills of reading and writing. Gee and other

scholars have challenged such a narrow definition.75 Some specialists

promote a concentration on ‘phonetics’ while others favour ‘reading for

meaning.’ Brian Street has a fuller discussion of this issue in his paper written

in 2004 for the UNESCO Education for All programme.76

The acquisition of literacy skills can take decades. Literacy practitioners have

observed that oral societies have not taken literacy on board as quickly as

once thought. 77 This observation parallels Ong’s claim that, historically,

71

Werner H. Kelber, The oral and the written Gospel, (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1983), p.2 72

Kelber, p.2 73

UNESCO Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2006, Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005) 74

Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005), p.149 75

Gee, What Video Games, p.13 76

B. Street, 2004. Understanding and defining literacy. Background paper for EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006. 77

eg D. Porter in IJFM, (1995), p.105

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societal transition of a predominantly ‘oral’ culture to literacy has been a slow

process.78

In reality, some people never become literate for various reasons. 79 Among

the barriers to achieving functional literacy are poverty (when many people

need to spend most of their time in meeting their basic needs) and ambition

and hard work (with people working long hours and not having the time or

stamina for literacy classes). But some groups in society, for example the

nomadic, make life-style a choice to ignore, or just pay lip-service to, formal

education; while for others the obstacle may be old age, a physical

consideration such as blindness or being crippled and educational

impairment.80

There is increasing recognition among anthropologists and missiologists that

orality has an important (and ongoing) place to play in the lives of many

people. As a result it is very important for literate educators in both

mainstream education and the church (who, almost by definition, come from a

highly literate perspective) to learn to communicate more effectively to oral

learners. This is in contrast to the previously accepted focus on literacy and of

insisting that oral communicators should first have to learn to read.

UNESCO ‘Literacy for Life’ report recognises this significant change in

approach when it comments that ‘L rational consciousness L [which] derives

from a classical epistemology L may be less appropriate for societies

founded on different patterns of thought and interaction.’81

The ‘Literacy for Life’ report concludes ‘that an understanding of literacy that

maintains some focus on oral skills is desirable.’82

Herbert Klem, a missionary who taught in seminaries in Kenya and Nigeria for

many years, wrote that a preference for oral communication can produce a

resistance to literacy in communities, and that this can lead to a rejection of

Christianity which is so often associated with it. He said that ‘it is neither

78

Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.115 79

Richard D. Brown, Designing programs for oral cultures. Notes on Literature in Use and Language Programs 46, 1995, p. 16 80

Marilyn Malmstrom, My tongue is the pen, (Dallas, SIL, 1991), p.12-13 81

Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005), p.149 (my italics) 82

Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005), p.149

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loving, respectful, nor constructive to view indigenous resistance’ to literacy as

‘a disease to be cured.’ Rather, Klem said, ‘It is far wiser and more fruitful to

attempt to empathize with the positive reasons people may have for preferring

indigenous oral communications.’83

From the perspective of Bible translators, Doris Porter of SIL acknowledged,

that often, at least up to when she was writing in 1995, the scheduling of

portions of Scripture and the production of audio material had not taken the

needs of the eventual users into account. But, she said, as translators began

to recognise the effectiveness of non-print media in achieving long-term goals,

the ‘use and evaluation of these elements are planned into the strategy.’84

However, writing fifteen years later on the Lausanne Conversation blog for

Cape Town 2010, a missionary working in a rural area in the south of Taiwan

said that she still struggled to get the tools she needs from the translators with

whom she is in contact:

Several times in recent years I have begged Bible translators not to

start with the New Testament but L the parts of the Bible first which

contribute to bringing a group to salvation. No one has yet taken any

notice!85

This is a plea for initially providing translated portions of scripture which tell

stories and which will resonate with oral communicators. Appendix B86 shows

that they tend to learn by hearing, observing, imitating, listening, repeating,

and memorizing proverbs, traditional sayings, stories, songs, and

expressions. Print communicators, on the other hand, tend to learn by seeing,

reading, studying, examining, classifying, comparing, and analyzing. So oral

communicators have their own set of skills, and these have developed into a

very appropriate and functional pattern of communication.

The contrast goes deeper. Oral communicators often think and talk about

events, not words, and the usage of information is embedded in the flow of

time and usually within a storyline. They store this knowledge in their

memories. On the other hand, print communicators think and talk about

83

H. Klem, Oral Communication of the Scriptures, (Passadena, CA, William Carey Library, 1982), p.98-99 84

Porter in IJFM, (1995), pp.105-106 85

See http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/10363 [accessed March 2011] 86

Appendix B, pp.78-79

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words, concepts, and principles and manage knowledge in scientifically

abstracted categories and then store this knowledge in print or digital formats

rather than stories. In the aspect of tradition and values retention, the

approaches are also different. Where oral communicators tend to value

tradition, group communication, and interaction with others, print

communicators look for new things, enjoy reading as an individual experience

and learn mostly on their own.87

The work that Ong and others have done has identified many characteristics

which those working in the field have been able to use as they seek to

communicate in primary oral cultures. But Ong may have drawn the contrasts

between oral and literate learners too starkly and scholars such as Gee and

Finnegan have sounded a note of caution.

In working on the development of Chronological Bible Storying, practitioners

have identified a range of different learning styles as people and societies

move from being oral or ‘illiterate’ through various stages to become highly

literate. At each stage, some skills which may have been very significant

become redundant and are often lost. But at each stage as well, new skills are

learnt which are appropriate to that progression.

Spectrum of Oral Communicators

James Slack, of the International Missions Board (IBM) has developed a

spectrum for oral communicators. In this he identifies five categories as

follows:

1. Illiterate

2. Functional Illiterate

3. Semi-illiterate

4. Literate (sometimes called ‘functionally literate’)

5. Highly literate

The first three of these he describes as ‘Oral Communicators’ who learn best

from information presented in non-literate ways – as stories, or in discussions

87

See listing based on Ong’s work in Appendix B, pp.78-79

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– with no (or little) exposition.88 The last two are ‘Literate Communicators’ who

can learn orally from stories or dialogue with exposition but are often more

comfortable in learning from reading and a more literate presentation of facts

and information. This is represented graphically in the Learning Grid (below).

Figure 1 – The Learning Grid89

As well as highlighting stages along this continuum, the shaded areas of the

diagram indicate where there is no need for exposition or explanation. This

decreases for both the ‘story’ and the subsequent discussion and dialogue as

the hearers become increasingly literate. Slack recognises that from ‘illiterate’

to ‘highly literate’ those with all learning styles appreciate hearing a good (and

well told) story.90

According to Slack, internal research carried out by IMB has shown that a

community moving from illiteracy to a literacy rate of only 30% has generally

taken 125 years.91

88

For a discussion on the role of ‘Expository Preaching’ see p.48 below 89

From http://www.storyrunners.com/orality/how-oral-learners-communicate using diagram adapted from Jim Slack, IMB [Accessed April 2011] 90

This point is not expressly acknowledged by Ong, see p.20 91

Slack

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The size of the task

Much work has been done on estimating the numbers of oral communicators.

Grant Lovejoy gave the following global figures at Lausanne Consultation in

2010 at Cape Town92:

0-8 year olds 900,000,000 (children) 8-15 years 450,000,000 (learners in school) (from UN stats) 15 plus 3,000,000,000

TOTAL 4,350,000,000

This total of 4.35 billion is about 63% of the world’s population and includes

an estimated 1 billion people who are oral communicators out of necessity

and use only the spoken word. Of these, 340 million are among the 2,100

language groups that Wycliffe Bible Translators estimate have no portions of

the Bible in their mother tongue.93

This 4.3 billion is a significant increase on the ‘almost two billion’ mentioned

by Weerstra in his editorial for the special orality issue of the IJFM in 1995.94

As the world population grows as an increasing rate so the number of oral

communicators is likely also to grow exponentially. Some may challenge the

current estimates and those involved with literacy programmes may be

inclined to exclude the children and learners still at school. But even if the

remaining 3 billion are taken as the ‘core’ this is a very substantial proportion

of the world’s population.

As part of its Education for All (EFA) programme, UNESCO has been seeking

to research and highlight the issues of orality and literacy. Appendix A95 lists

definitions of some of the terms used by UNESCO in its EFA ‘Literacy for Life’

Report.96 This report sought to bring together global figures using national

statistics.

92

G Lovejoy, That All May Hear, Lausanne Movement Global Conversation, Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper, http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/10363, [Accessed March 2011] 93

Figures from http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx [accessed March 2011] 94

See p.6 95

Appendix A, p.77 96

Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005)

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Many countries do not have a proper definition of literacy but still claim to

have a literacy rate of over 90% so some experts give a word of warning

about ‘official’ statistics on national literacy rates. Daniel Wagner says:

UNESCO has relied almost entirely on data provided by its member countries . . . These countries L typically rely on national census information, which most often determines literacy ability by the proxy variable of self-stated years of primary schooling L. Many specialists would agree that such measures are likely to be unreliable indicators of literacy ability.97

The UNESCO Literacy for Life report came to the following assessment:

The vast majority of the world’s 771 million adult illiterates live in three regions: South and West Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and sub-Saharan Africa. Women [are] a majority of the world’s illiterates: 64%, unchanged from 1990. Progress L is especially marked in the 15-24 age group, where expanded access to formal schooling helped raise the global literacy rate from 75% to 88% between 1970 and 2000–2004; the corresponding rates for developing countries were 66% and 85%.98

I have not been able to find meaningful literacy statistics for the UK as a

whole as the education system links literacy and numeracy skills together.99

However, the National Literacy Trust estimates that around 16 per cent, or 5.2

million adults in England, can be described as ‘functionally illiterate.’ This they

define as having literacy levels at or below those expected of an eleven year

old.100

In the USA, however, in 2003 a study was initiated by the National Centre for

Education Statistics to examine the skill levels of American adults has

produced an ongoing National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).101 As a

result of working with 19,000 adults across the USA, the assessment

concluded that only thirteen percent are ‘proficiently literate’ while a very

significant forty-three percent have either ‘basic or below basic skills’ with an

estimated 20% of adults being described as ‘functionally illiterate’.

Internationally, the USA is ranked 27th out of 205 countries. Some orality

experts estimate that over 50% of the population of the US are ‘oral

communicators.’ While in Europe, on 1 February 2011 a press release from

97

Daniel A. Wagner, Literacy and Development: Rationales, Myths, Innovations, and Future Directions, in Papers from the 2nd Asia Regional Literacy Forum (1993), 2. Document online: www.literacyonline.org/products/ili/webdocs/wagner.html. 98

Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005) 99

See research on literacy work with UK adult learners is described on pp.14-15 above 100

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/about/faqs/s1#q284 [Accessed April 2011] 101

See www.caliteracy.org [accessed 2 March 2011]

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the European Commission suggested that 20% of European 15 year olds

have ‘inadequate reading skills’ while over 80 million adults (one third of the

workforce of the EU) have ‘low or basic reading skills.’102

The task is immense. If the mainstream Christian mission community does not

come to terms with this need, there is a real risk that a huge number of those

alive today will never be able to engage with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The

comments in the following paragraphs from Gilbert Ansre and Herbert Klem,

each with significant experience in Africa, are instructive.

Ansre, a linguist from Ghana, who has served as a translation consultant with

the United Bible Societies, extrapolates from 1993 literacy figures for African

countries to conclude that only about eleven percent of the officially

recognised ‘literate’ population of almost every African country read Scriptures

regularly.103 So, in spite of years of teaching literacy in many parts of Africa,

there are still few readers. Ansre notes that the population is increasing in

some areas faster than literacy. As a result, literacy rates are declining in

those areas.104

Ansre notes that the church has never taught that literacy should be a

prerequisite to becoming a Christian. Yet there has been a strong recognition

within the church that ‘the ideal Christian should be able to read and diligently

study the Scriptures by reading regularly.’105

From the nature of Christian leadership training programmes in many

countries it would seem that Ansre comment has considerable merit. It

appears that the majority of believers and church leaders from the ‘literate’

west have concluded that Christians cannot become spiritually mature – and

are not able to reach a standard to become church leaders – unless they can

read and study the printed Word of God. I want to examine whether such a

view is supported by Scripture and the experience of the early church. If the

church of today is to fulfil the mandate of making disciples of all nations and

producing the ‘living’ word then I believe that view needs to be challenged.

102

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bO8m9kjT_s [Accessed February 2011] 103

Ansre, IJFM, p. 66 104

Ansre, IJFM, p. 65 105

Ansre, IJFM, p. 66

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Even more there needs to be a massive re-education process to encourage

all churches to adopt discipling strategies which will produce mature oral

believers and church leaders.

In 1995 Klem wrote an article on ‘Dependence on Literacy Strategy Taking a

Hard Second Look.’ In this he points out that Jesus did not regard oral

learners as first needing to read. ‘Although He could read, He did not write

any of His teachings, but taught His disciples to recite from memory.’106 Klem

goes on to say that the extent to which we use books to teach about the Bible

‘is a cultural choice not a biblical requirement.’ He suggested that we could

not afford to rely on a strategy that so many cannot or do not use and which

has caused some problems in Bible translation.107 The assumption on the part

of those who are literate that all people should be able to read may be well

intentioned but is self-centred when nearly two thirds of the world’s population

prefers to communicate orally rather than via print. By concentrating on

written translations we are actually preventing oral communicators from

having easy access to God’s Word.

106

Klem, IJFM p. 59 107

Klem, IJFM p. 59

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Section II – God’s Word:

Unchanging yet Living

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Chapter 3: The Unchanging Word of God

One of the distinctive features of Evangelical Christians is their belief that the

Bible is the divinely inspired ‘Word of God’. The non-denominational

Evangelical Alliance in the UK puts it this way in its basis of faith as it was

revised in 2005:

The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God—fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.108

For specific denominations there are variations on this wording. For example:

Assemblies of God: We believe that the Bible (i.e. the Old and New Testaments excluding the Apocrypha), is the inspired Word of God, the infallible, all sufficient rule for faith and practice.109

Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches: God has revealed himself in the Bible, L. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.110

The phrase ‘the Bible as originally given’ is not wording which is unique to the

FIEC. But it leaves us with a problem. Does it mean that only the original

Hebrew or Greek text is God’s word? Or, going back even further is it the

words actually spoken by God?111 This issue of inspiration has occupied the

attention of Bible translators since the earliest days.

In a note to the updated (2011) version of the New International Version112 of

the Bible the Translation Committee commented that, when first written down,

the original documents had ‘a unique fusion’ between what God wanted to say

and the language of ordinary people. Today this is no longer the case and the

Hebrew and Greek of Bible times have become historical rather than living

languages that most people cannot understand.

The NIV committee points out that this continued to be the case with English

translations. The 1611 King James Version was in the idiom of the people of

that time but in many instances the wording used then has become archaic.

108

See http://www.eauk.org/about/basis-of-faith.cfm [Accessed March 2011] 109

See http://www.aog.org.uk/pages/17-statement-of-faith/content [Accessed March 2011] 110

See http://www.fiec.org.uk/AboutUs/Beliefs/tabid/509/Default.aspx [Accessed March 2011] (My Italics) 111

See p.36 below 112

See http://www.biblegateway.com/niv/translators-notes/, [Accessed April 2011]

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The same thing has happened over a shorter time span to the NIV originally

published in 1978. In the 2011 version, the translators have taken account of

changes in English usage, progress in scholarship and concern for clarity.

The Bible as ‘God’s Word’

The Qur’an refers to both Jews and Christians as ‘people of the Book.’113 It is

certainly true that the Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets) and the

Christian Bible are extremely important and significant texts for followers of

both faiths.

In the western world, the phrase ‘The Word of God’ is often taken as a

synonym for a printed book often bound in black leather! Yet within the Bible

the expression ‘the Word’ is usually a reference to life. This is brought out

most effectively in the opening verses of John’s gospel where it refers

specifically to Jesus Christ:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us L114

In his article on ‘Scripture’ in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, E J

Schnabel says that Jews use the term ‘holy Scripture’ to refer to writings of

‘divine origin possessing authority for the people of God as well as for the

individual’.115 He points out that both the Jewish and the early Christian

traditions agreed that ‘what scripture says, God says.’ While some

interpretations may have differed between the two faiths, there was

agreement on both ‘the divine origin and normative nature of Scripture.’116

The early Church then extended the concept of the ‘word of God’ to apply to

the apostolic accounts of the person and ministry of Jesus (see 1 Thess 2:13)

and then later to the letters from the apostles (see 2 Peter 3:16).

In another article in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, R. T. Beckwith

deals with ‘the canon of Scripture’ (that is which books were to be included)

and the debates which surrounded the emergence of the Bible as we know it

113

eg see Qur’an 3:199: And there are, certainly, among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), those who believe in God and in that which has been revealed to you, and in that which has been revealed to them, humbling themselves before God. ' 114

John 1:14 115

E. J. Schnabel, Article on ‘Scripture’ in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, (IVP, Leicester, 2000), p.34-43 116

Schnabel, p.34

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today.117 The canon dates from the time that the first revelation was given in

written form, but Beckwith notes that

L revelation was initially given through spoken words and outward signs, and L through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ ,,, but for the sake of permanence it soon started to be put into written form.118

In the introductory chapter of ‘A History of Bible Translation’,119 Manuel

Jinbachian points out that the Bible is not a single book, written in one

language, but an entire library, written over a period of many centuries.120 He

considers four periods of Bible Translation from 532 BCE up to the early

twenty-first century and divides early Bible translations into three categories:

primary (from the original languages); secondary (mainly from the

Septuagint); and Tertiary (from a secondary translation). Jinbachian

summarises the history of Bible translation as moving from ‘word-for-word

translation to sense-for-sense rendering, what has commonly been called

“meaning-based translation.”’121

In the next chapter of ‘A History’, David Burke of the American Bible Society

explores the first versions of the Bible. These include the Septuagint,122 the

Targumim (extemporaneous oral paraphrases), and the Latin text which

became the dominant Bible text of the Western church.123 Burke points out

that over many centuries the Bible has been publicly read in translation. In the

synagogue it was read in Hebrew but then followed (in a softer voice to keep

the distinction clear) by a translation into a language that the people could

understand – such as Greek or Aramaic.124

In his NDBT article, Beckwith also makes comment on texts and versions

which are helpful in the consideration of the written word and that provide a

permanent record of oral revelation.

117

R. T. Beckwith, Article on ‘The Canon of Scripture’ in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, (IVP, Leicester, 2000), p.27-34 118

Beckwith, p.28 119 Philip A. Noss, ed., A History of Bible Translation (Rome, Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2007) 120

Noss, p.34 121

Noss, p.35 122

See Beckwith’s comments on the use of the Septuagint by New Testament writers below. 123

Noss, p.85 124

Noss, p.60

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The Old Testament was translated into Greek long before the New Testament

was written and this Septuagint translation has often been quoted by New

Testament writers. Beckwith asserts that this ‘shows the feasibility and

legitimacy of translating the Scriptures into other languages.’ Furthermore, the

New Testament writers attribute ‘final authority’ to such ‘transmitted’

quotations which used the Old Testament as it was when they were alive.

Beckwith concludes that ‘the transmission of the text is firmly controlled by the

providence of God.’ As a result we can that have confidence any changes will

not undermine God’s purpose to guide his people through Scripture.125

There have been changes to the Septuagint and transcription errors have

been uncovered following archaeological finds (such as the Dead Sea

scrolls126). Advances in Biblical scholarship and changes in language,

meanings, and usage of words show the on-going need to revise Bible

translations.127

If Beckwith’s assertion is true for revisions to the printed text of the Bible, then

this raises serious issues if we adopt different standards for oral learners

rather than continue to trust in this ‘providence of God’. What lessons are

there when the written text of Scripture (as it is within our Biblical canon) is

taken and reworked as narrative ‘story sets’ for working with primary oral

communicators?128

One of the foundational assertions in Scripture is that God speaks and we see

this throughout the Bible. Indeed the Bible has many more references to God

‘speaking’ rather than God ‘writing’. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance129 has

twelve three-columned pages for ‘said’ and ‘spoke’ but only one page for

‘wrote’, ‘write’ etc.

In his NDBT article Schnabel looks at the ‘factors involved in the complex

process of communication.’130 These include the use of language (with

symbols) to convey meaning; ‘speech-acts’ (choice of language and choice of 125

Beckwith, p.33 126

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint#Dead_Sea_Scrolls [Accessed April 2011] 127

See comments from NIV 2011, Translators notes on p.32 above. 128

See discussion below under ‘Can Oral Transmission of God’s Word be Trusted?’ 129

James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, 2009) 130

Schnabel, p.36

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words; performing actions – including informing, rebuking, directing); feedback

from the receiver; references to objects using language (code); the channel of

communication – speech, writing, movement or other non-verbal methods;

and distortions (noise).

In the creation account contained in Genesis 1 we read repeatedly ‘And God

said’131 and the result of this communication was the ‘speech-acts’ of creation.

In the next chapter we read of God communicating an instruction and warning

to the man (Genesis 2:16-17). In Genesis 3 we find God ‘walking in the

garden in the cool of the day’ and having a face to face conversation with

Adam and Eve.132 The act of rebellion and sin had the consequence of

removing the opportunity for these ‘natural’ encounters by placing a barrier

between man and God. As a result, subsequent ‘face to face’ encounters

between God and particular individuals recorded in Scripture are recognised

as awesome and exceptional.133

God is a God of relationship and, in spite of the fall (Genesis 3), he continues

to communicate as Creator to his created beings. God’s character not only as

creator but also as King, Lord, and Father, is reflected in his communication.

This includes his purity and hatred of sin, his love and his mercy, his holiness

and his faithfulness. God spoke directly through verbal means but also

through visions and dreams. This is a pattern throughout Scripture. God

spoke to individuals (including prophets, priests and kings) and to

communities (both directly and through intermediaries). Supremely, of course

he has spoken through Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his SonL134

So God communicated orally. But there are many instances when he

instructed those to whom he spoke to write down the words so that they could

be passed on, and passed on accurately, to others or to future generations.

131

eg Gen 1: 3; 6; 9; 14; 20; 24; 132

Gen 3:8-19 133

For example, Jacob (Genesis 32:30); Moses (see Numbers 12: 6-8; Deut 34:10) 134

Heb 1:1-2

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In Exodus, the Lord gave the Ten Commandments to Moses orally (Ex 20:1),

but later God wrote them on the tablets of stone,135 and he also instructed

Moses to write down the words of the covenant he had made with him and

with Israel.136 Ezekiel was told to write down the design of and regulations for

the Temple so that the instructions would be followed faithfully by those doing

the work.137 Habakkuk was directed to ‘write down the revelation and make it

plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.’138

God also spoke through sacred texts such as the book of the covenant in

which Moses had written ‘everything the Lord had said’139 or the letters of the

apostles.

The example of God ‘speaking’ and then performing what Schnabel calls

‘speech-acts’140 was also followed by several of the prophets. Some of the

prophets came from rural backgrounds and may have been, at most, only

semi-literate. Living in largely oral communities, they used dramatic

enactments to telling effect. Ezekiel was instructed to eat the scroll and then

speak.141 In chapter 4, he acted out the siege of Jerusalem before shaving

with a sharp sword and using his hair as a visual aid.142

The Bible shows clearly that God communicates in various ways – visually,

orally, and through the written word. All of these methods are significant. It is

important to remember that the written record was, itself, normally read

publicly to the people. I have shown earlier143 that both McLuhan and Ong

have demonstrated that the coming of the printed word made a significant

change to reading practice. In Europe reading became largely a silent activity

and, as a result, something for the individual rather than the community.

135

Ex 24:12; 32:15-16 and then again, as a replacement, in Ex 34:1 136

Ex 34:27 137

Ezekiel 43:10-11 138

Hab 2:1 139

Ex 24:4,7 140

Schnabel, p.36 141

Ezekiel 3:1-4 142

Ezekiel 5:1-17 143

Ong, Orality and Literacy, p.31,119,122 and p.20 above

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One of the most significant and dramatic events of the public reading of God’s

word in Old Testament history was when Ezra publicly read from the Book of

the Law.

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving

the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.144

There are some Church traditions where this is an annual practice today145

and perhaps others could learn from it. We see, too, from by Luke’s

account,146 that in Jesus’ time, the public reading of God’s Word without

comment was a normal practice. Paul commanded Timothy to publicly read

Scripture as well as to preach and to teach.147

Bible Translation issues for Oral Cultures

Given that over 2,100 of the 6,900 languages148 in the world have yet to have

any portions of the Bible there is a massive task remaining for Bible

translators. How should they approach the task of translation for an

unreached people group which is from an oral culture? I have already pointed

out shown that oral communicators learn best from narratives, proverbs, and

poetry and do not learn as well from expositions, directives, recipes, and other

procedural genres.149

In 1991, Slack referred to research by New Tribes Missionaries in the

Philippines among oral communicators and peoples from both the city and the

countryside who had strong roots in rural areas. This research found that

when information was shared with such people using logical and systemised

means, retention was rarely higher than 29%. But when a storying or

chronological teaching method was used, retention rose to at least 75%.150

144

Neh 8:1-8 – verse 8 quoted 145

I have been told by some Korean colleagues that it is not uncommon for churches in Korea to set aside a time each year when the Bible is read aloud publicly in its entirety. 146

Luke 4:16-21 147

1 Tim 4:13 148

Figures from http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx [accessed March 2011] 149

See p.48 below for a discussion of expositional preaching 150

J. B. Slack, Evangelism among peoples who learn best by oral tradition, (Richmond, VA, IMB, 1991), p 9-10

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Oral communicators learn quite readily from Old Testament narratives and

from the Psalms and Proverbs, whereas the Epistles are less effective. The

Gospels stand in between, Mark being mostly narrative and John mostly

exposition, while Matthew and Luke include both and have many narrative

parables within the exposition. Tom Steffen points out that that the Bible is

75% narrative, 15% poetry, and only 10% ‘thought-organised.’151 It gives us a

model of how to teach biblical truth.

Oral communicators easily memorize the narrative and poetic parts and grasp

the meanings and implications of these texts, but they usually have less

interest in the expositional parts and retain less of the information from them.

It is not surprising that missiologists have found that the most effective way to

present the message is to use narrative sections of the Bible, beginning with

the account of creation and proceeding in a chronological order, with the

addition of some psalms and proverbs:

Oral communicators, most of whom have great difficulty in understanding literate, expositionally-formatted Gospel presentations, and almost all of whom cannot remember and recall expositionally-formatted presentations, can, as a result of a narrative presentation, understand, apply, remember and recall the entire scope of the Biblical story.152

The Gospel of Mark has been found to be very effective with many unreached

people groups as an evangelistic tool. One reason for this is that it makes so

few statements about Jesus. Rather, Mark presents a steady flow of

questions that force those who hear it to consider for themselves who Jesus

really is on the basis of the evidence presented in his Gospel.

Oral communicators have difficulty focusing on and retaining information

delivered in expository ways unless it is embedded in a narrative to which it

relates. For example, oral communicators can usually process the sayings of

Jesus in Luke more effectively than those in Matthew, because Luke has

included the narrative accounts which gave rise to the sayings. In the same

way, they can receive the teaching of one of Paul’s letters more effectively if it

is placed in the context of the narratives in Acts and know how the letter

relates to the people, places, and issues mentioned there. Those who use

151

Tom A. Steffen, Reconnecting God’s Story to Ministry, quoted by Brown in IJFM, 2004, p.126 152

Lovejoy

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Chronological Bible Storying (CBS) will often include selections from the

letters at appropriate places in telling the story of Acts. Small Scripture

portions have been produced that do the same thing, especially in a series of

‘biographical portions’ such as The Lives of the Prophets and The Lives of the

Apostles.

Eric Miller153 has spent several decades training Christian workers in various

parts of east Africa while based in Kenya with Intervarsity Christian

Fellowship. Initially he used a traditional expository approach, setting out

principles supported by texts and passages from Scripture. He always tried to

give follow-up courses to his students and was very concerned when he found

that after five years his trainees retained almost nothing of what he had

taught. He then began to use a more ‘inductive’ approach, using only the

Bible in manuscript format which guides the trainees as they read and discuss

whole portions of Scripture in a chronological order. He found that the trainees

took a much greater interest in the Word, and five years later their retention

level was still high. Even the name of the course which they call the ‘Berean

Safari’154 – a ‘journey of discovery’ – picks up this more narrative mode. The

same approach has been used by some Bible translation teams as they

prepare to translate the text.

In the previous section I looked at issues which Bible Translators have to take

into account in producing a reliable translation which will have credibility in the

context of a developing modern language.155 In the book ‘Communicating

Christ Through Story and Song’ Dale Jones has written a chapter on ‘Moving

towards Oral Communication of the Gospel: Experiences from Cambodia’.156

In this he highlights a dimension of this problem which is specific to the Khmer

language and has relevance to the oral use of Scripture.

In Cambodia there is a ‘high Khmer’ language for speaking to royalty and a

common vernacular for everyday use. There are various ways of saying, ‘to

153

See http://www.bereansafari.org/about-2/frequently-asked-questions/ [Accessed April 2011] 154

Based on the response of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and the Swahili word for journey, ‘safari’ 155

See p.32 156

Dale Jones chapter on ‘Moving towards Oral Communication of the Gospel: Experiences from Cambodia’, in De Neui, pp.174-202

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go’, for example, depending on the status of the person. This has given rise to

a debate and division in the Khmer church about which is more appropriate

language for the Bible. Some believe that to give God the respect and honour

that is due to him the royal language should be used. Others are convinced

that the common language would be more in keeping with the language of the

New Testament in common, everyday Greek. Jones favours the use of the

vernacular and ‘whatever language best communicates the message’. He

goes on ‘a language which is understandable and easily recalled and retold is

much more effective among oral learners.’157

In one country of Asia a large people movement began when the Scriptures

were translated in a contextualized fashion (i.e. using the natural idiom of the

language rather than imported expressions). One of the keys to this

movement was the way that the translation was used. The evangelists and

trainers would guide people through the discussion of whole portions, with lots

of time to backtrack and look again at the evidence.

Jesus did the same thing on the road to Emmaus where his disciples were

already familiar with the Old Testament. This meant that Jesus was able to

remind them of all that Moses and the prophets had said concerning him

(Luke 24:25–27). He had said earlier that seeing someone rise from the dead

was not necessarily enough to produce faith; Jesus said, ‘If they do not listen

to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises

from the dead’ (Luke 16:31). Therefore on the road to Emmaus, instead of

revealing himself right away as risen from the dead, Jesus led them through

the Old Testament.

Don Pederson writes,

In searching for effective means of communicating the Gospel, we find in the narrative structure of the Bible God’s choice for communicating with mankind. As missionaries from countries all over the world have used the biblical narrative to lay a foundation for the Gospel, they have given testimony to the power of scripture to bring new understanding to those they teach.158

In considering these examples, I believe that there are good reasons to begin

Bible translation in the Old Testament, especially in the narrative portions,

157

De Neui, p.189 158

D. Pederson,

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because they impart to the audience the concepts, worldview, and historical

background that provide the context essential for understanding the Gospels.

The goal of all translation is to transmit information. It is usually an effective

strategy of communication to begin at the beginning and help those ‘hearing’

to develop progressively the key concepts in an increasingly familiar context.

With our current level of knowledge about orality and the benefits of good

quality audio technology which does not cost a lot, it should be possible to

provide oral material for the estimated four billion oral communicators. When

the majority of a population or people group cannot read, and doubtfully ever

will, the church needs to consider and embrace more widely an alternative to

literacy strategy.

Christine Kilham commented in 1987 that translators who studied cultures

where there was no written tradition (or only a very recent one) observed that

speakers within these cultures have an innate understanding for the need to

use different styles of translations for oral and written language. Written texts

usually remove oral ‘redundancy’, and include grammatical and phonological

corrections which are perfectly acceptable in the cut and thrust of speech.159

Kilham said that literacy must not be seen to be in competition with an oral

approach. She highlighted the advantage of early implementation of literacy

and creative writing programs so that an appropriate written style can develop

from the start of the project. But she accepted that Christian maturity is

possible without literacy. Oral approaches and methods should not be seen

simply as a transition to literacy. God’s Word is needed in a variety of media

to provide access to all different kinds of people.160 It seems that a single

translation of the Bible may not prove satisfactory for two or more distinct

audiences—such as one who prefers an oral version and one who prefers

written text.

One of the pointers to the memorisation and learning of Scripture is from

Psalm 119 v.11 when David says ‘I have hidden your word in my heart that I

159

Christine A. Kilham, A written style for oral communicators (Notes on Translation, Special Edition, No.123:12, SIL, 1987), p.37 160 Kilham, A written style, pp.45-46

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might not sin against you.’ Jones161 quotes a Singaporean missionary

referring to imprisoned Christians in China who have memorised entire books

of the Bible. It was this that sustained them while they were held in solitary

confinement.

In his 2007 MA Dissertation ‘An Orality Strategy: Translating the Bible for Oral

Communication’, Robin Green points out the current options for Bible

translators working with languages of primary oral communicators. Often the

heart language of such communities will not have been written down.

The two generally recognized options for introducing Scriptures into oral cultures are the production of a print translation with accompanying literacy programs and the translation of Bible stories in oral form as a bridge to a later print translation.162

Green proposes a ‘third way’ to bring God’s word to such people – an oral

Bible translation. This would be different from other ‘Oral Bible’ projects. From

the start of the translation project it would be planned as a permanent

Scripture source for oral communicators. He identifies four factors as

necessary for such a project. It should be a ‘meaning-based translation’

prepared in an ‘oral communication style’ with ‘sensitivity to both media and

genre’. Finally, these factors should be ‘weighed against generally accepted

goals for any translation’.163

Such a ‘dual’ translation project could be a big step for many pioneer

translators to take. It will require a change in mindset and it may not be

appropriate in every instance. But the goal of translation is to communicate

the gospel in a relevant and effective way. An oral translation developed as a

permanent resource rather than as a transition to a written Bible would

provide an important source document for assuring the accuracy and

reliability of other oral techniques. It would contribute to producing the ‘living’

word in mature believers.

161

De Neui, p.188 162

Robin Green, An Orality Strategy: Translating the Bible for Oral Communicators, (Dissertation for MA, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, 2007) [My emphasis] 163

Green, An Orality Strategy

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Chapter 4: Changing Lives

Missions and churches are involved in the task of proclaiming the gospel so

that people will find Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to change them.164

The essential message of the Christian church is that God made man in his

own image;165 that sin distorted that image and created a barrier between

man and God;166 that God provided salvation and reconciliation through

Jesus’ death;167 and that men can be transformed through the work of the

Holy Spirit.168 It is the journey to faith and changed lives that can be described

as ‘discipleship.’

Making Disciples

There are many ministries involved in evangelism and reaching the lost with

the message of the gospel; and many Christian workers who dedicate their

lives to this task. There are those who target the ‘unreached people groups’

around the world. This includes those involved in Bible translation and, as I

have said, there are many languages still to be tackled.169

But increasingly both missions and churches are recognising that conversion

to Christ is only the beginning. We are all on a journey of transformation by

the work of the Holy Spirit and of growing in maturity to become the ‘living

word’. This need for nurturing and discipling young believers has not always

been addressed in missions and churches. Yet it is part of the charge that

Jesus gave his disciples when he left them to continue to task that he had

begun. The need for ‘making disciples’ is central to the words of Jesus –

known as the Great Commission – as recorded by Matthew:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and

164

See 2 Cor 3:18 for Paul’s affirmation of the transformation work of the Trinity 165

Genesis 1: 27 166

Genesis 3:23-24 167

Romans 5:10 168

2 Corinthians 3:18 169

http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx

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teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”170

It is this command from Jesus to the first disciples to ‘go and make disciples

of all nations’ that is at the heart to the need for Christian discipleship. We

should baptise new believers and teach them to obey Jesus commands. Paul

put it this way in writing to the Colossians:

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.171

Making disciples is the task for the church and Christian missions who are

motivated to take this world-wide mandate seriously. The ‘Great Commission

Missions’172 which have been formed over the last 200 years or so of the

Modern Missions movement are taking the good news of the gospel to the

unreached peoples of the world. In 2004, the Lausanne Committee for World

Evangelisation (LCWE) affirmed a commitment to create self sustaining

churches ‘within 6,000 remaining unreached people groups.’173 At The Third

Lausanne Congress in Cape Town in 2010, it was recognised that there

remained over 2,100 people groups (representing some 340 million people)

who were ‘unengaged or unreached’ This was defined as those who have no

access to even a portion of the Bible in their own ‘heart’ language.

There is still some way to go to fulfil the Great Commission and Christ’s

instruction, recorded by Luke in Acts, to be witnesses ‘to the ends of the

earth’:

L But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”174

Many churches and mission agencies are now reviewing their work and its

effectiveness. This process has sought to grapple with the evidence that the

170

Matthew 28:18-20 (my italics) 171

Colossians 1:9-12 172

For example see www.sbc.net/missionvision – Southern Baptist Convention 173

Lausanne Occasional Paper (LOP) No.54, Making Disciples of Oral Learners, (LCWE, 2005) 174

Acts 1:8

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response to the Gospel has been poor or at best patchy in many areas. Often

the reasons for this are attributed to factors over which the evangelist has no

control, such as past history or characteristics of the people group or the

locality. In justification, some missionaries refer to the lessons from the

parable of the sower and especially about the seed falling on stony ground.175

But others are examining whether the problem might be failure to address the

context the inappropriate way the word of God has been transmitted. Perhaps

a different approach would allow the good news to be communicated more

effectively. There have been (and sadly still are) times when evangelists or

groups have concentrated on adding up numbers of those who have made

‘decisions’ or have been ‘baptised’ without paying attention to the need for

follow up to nurture and disciple young believers to become mature Christians

who will, in turn, pass on the gospel.176 Thankfully this is becoming more of an

exception.

There are also churches in the west which have begun to minister to and

focus on reaching ‘unengaged and unreached’ groups within cities.177 There

are sub cultures in the west, often with significant numbers of secondary oral

learners, who have not been touched by the established churches. Together

with those who have never had the gospel in their own heart language they

can be seen as ‘unreached people groups.’

But the question remains about how to measure the effectiveness of making

disciples. In the context of the present study how can the effective discipling in

oral communities be measured? In the Lausanne Occasional Paper (LOP

No.54), ‘Making Disciples of Oral Learners’ the vision is stated as:

God’s word for every ‘tribe, tongue, people and nation’; addressing the issue of orality; resulting in church planting movements; providing resources for oral, chronological, narrative presentations of God’s word, in order to disciple and equip leaders.178

175

See Matthew 13:1-9 176

This is Paul’s principle which he spells out to Timothy in 2 Tim 2:2 (see below) 177

One example is the Mosaic Church in downtown Los Angeles (see http://mosaic.org/about/). It meets in a nightclub and describes itself as ‘a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope’ welcoming those ‘from all walks of life, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey’. 178

LOP No.54, p. 7 [My italics]

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One of the characteristics of oral learners that I have already shown is that

they observe and copy others. The Lausanne Paper suggests that the best

discipling resource in an oral community is an obedient Christian rather than a

printed text.179 This is also true in many literate communities. Indeed it is very

much in line with Paul’s teaching. To the Philippian Church he writes:

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice (Phil. 4:9).

And to his prodigy, Timothy, when he says:

. . . the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses

entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Tim 2:2)

Some Christian workers believe that storying180 may be appropriate for

evangelism, but question whether such an approach is viable for a sustained,

indigenous-led church which will reproduce.181 Is it going to be able to

produce believers who will grasp the doctrines and Biblical grounding

necessary for ongoing discipleship among successive generations of

believers and for leadership development in the church?

Practitioners working with oral communities in relational societies claim that it

is not only viable but it is the preferred approach.182 There is a need to use

methods that oral learners can easily reproduce to ensure sustainability for an

emerging, indigenous-led church.

For too long we have sought to produce programmes and methods and

‘discipleship classes’ within our churches. The challenge of orality (both for

primarily oral communities but also for secondary oral communities in the

increasingly post-literate ‘west’) is that people will ‘read’ other people rather

than books and manuals! We need to continually review whether we are

modelling the ‘living word’ in a way that we want others to follow. If those

taking the gospel to unreached groups are demonstrating in their lives that

they listen to God and are prepared to obey Him then this is the most powerful

form of discipling. Oral communicators learn best when they copy the

179

LOP No.54, p 32 180

For a description of ‘storying’ see section starting on p.59 below 181

See section on ‘Why is there a reluctance L’ p.66 below 182

These include Weber, Steffen and Slack

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characteristics of those who led them to Christ. As a result, the discipling of

new believers starts even before their conversion.

In his book on church growth called The Multiplying Church, Bob Roberts,

uses the term ‘glocal’ for the paradigm shift that the church – especially in

North America – has to make. That is it must operate both locally and globally.

In each of these spheres, he has identified ‘the disciple’ as the change agent.

But this is a disciple who is able to hear and obey God rather than one who

has been trained and gone through a discipleship programme. The disciple

who will be used by God to transform society (whether literate, post-literate or

oral) will be one who has first been transformed by God. Roberts of a disciple

having ‘a personal relationship with Christ [which] engulfs his or her life,

family, and vocation and they way he or she relates to society.’183

The objective of effective evangelism and discipleship is to produce new,

healthy churches. According to J.D. Payne, church planting ‘is evangelism

that results in churches. It is a means of seeing people come to faith, being

baptized, and being taught. It is a means of fulfilling the Great

Commission.’184

Preaching for oral learners – is exposition possible?

There is no doubt, as the following references show, that Scripture anticipates

the Gospel will be proclaimed by preaching. In Luke 4 in the synagogue,

Jesus takes the scroll and reads from Isaiah 61:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.’185

Paul gives this instruction to Timothy with a focus on the important aspects of

preparation (‘be prepared’ and ‘patience’) and content (‘Word’):

183

Bob Roberts, Jr., The Multiplying Church, (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 2008), p. 109 184

J. D. Payne, “Ecclesiology: The Most Critical Issue in Church Planting Today,” Theology for Ministry 1 (2006), p.105-17 185

Luke 4:18-19 quoting Isaiah 61:1-2

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Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.186

Preaching involves taking and applying God’s written word so that, by the

power of the Holy Spirit, the words spoken by the preacher will become the

living word changing lives in the congregation. Does this progression from the

‘written word’ through the ‘spoken word’ to the ‘living word’ – which is

transforming a ‘literate’ text and delivering it in an overwhelmingly ‘oral’ way –

meet the needs of both literate and oral learners? Let me explore the

evidence.

In the previous chapter, I showed that the Bible is ‘God’s Word’ and has been

delivered both orally and in written form.187 It is important, therefore, that all

preaching should be based on the Bible.

A study of homiletics reminds us that preachers must take account of their

audience. In his work on the spectrum of oral communicators, Slack suggests

that those at the oral end of the scale are more comfortable with little or no

‘exposition’.188 Yet there is an emphasis in much of the west on a return to

‘expository preaching’. John Stott contends that Christian preaching should all

be ‘expository’ by which he means based on biblical truth.

To expound Scripture is to bring out of the text what is there and expose it to view. The expositor prises open what appears to be closed, makes plain what is obscure, unravels what is knotted and unfolds what is tightly packed.189

A standard dictionary definition of the word ‘exposit’ is ‘to set forth one's

reasons’ or ‘to add details to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of’.190

This is the definition that Stott builds on in his explanation. In a paper on

‘Literate Preachers confront Orality’, Lovejoy suggests it is possible to prepare

sermons that fit this definition (of ‘expository’) and ‘not clash with the realities

of orality’.191 In order to do so, preachers need to understand both the biblical

186

2 Tim 4:2-3 187

Starting on p.33 188

See Slack’s ‘Learning Grid’ in Figure 1 on p.26 189

Stott, Between Two Worlds, p.126 190

Dictionary.com, "exposit," in WordNet® 3.0. Source location: Princeton University. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com. [Accessed: April 2011]. 191 Grant Lovejoy, ‘But I Did Such a Good Exposition: Literate Preachers Confront Orality.’ , paper presented to the Evangelical Homiletics Society Conference, 2001

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foundation of the message and the context of those to whom they are

preaching.

Paul addresses the content of his preaching when he writes to the

Corinthians:

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.192

In several of his other letters193 Paul reinforces this theme of preaching the

gospel of Christ with the focus of his sermons on the cross. The content and

focus is clear; but the presentation will vary according to those to whom it is

preached.

Paul never separates the Christian life from the context in which it is lived. In

addition to his letters which are written for particular churches and situations,

Paul contextualised the gospel he preaches. As he addressed a Jewish

audience in the synagogue in Antioch (Acts 13) Paul spoke about patriarchs,

prophets, and prophecies of old fulfilled. His Jewish audience could easily

identify with these themes. However, when Paul preached the same gospel in

Athens (Acts 17) he changed his language to connect with intellectual

Gentiles. He is aware of his context and picks up an inscription he has seen

‘to an unknown God’ (v. 23) and quotes from one of their poets (v. 27-28) as

he calls them to repentance (v. 30) and warns them of the coming judgment

(v. 30).

Paul never compromises or dilutes the gospel, but always communicates his

message in a way that considers the cultural and religious background of his

hearers. He sets out his concern for context when he says: ‘I have become all

things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.’194

The same principle was applied by Jesus who adapted his teaching to his

audience. This can be seen in Mark 4:33-34 when he used parables for the

crowds speaking ‘as much as they could understand’ but later, when alone

with his own disciples, ‘he explained everything’. In telling his stories

192

1 Cor 1:17 193

e.g. Romans 10; 15:20; 1 Cor 2: 1-5; Gal 3:13-14; Eph 3:8; Phil 1:14-18 194

1 Cor 9:22b could be described as setting out Paul’s principle of contextualisation

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sometimes Jesus was prepared to leave his audience to wrestle with the

meanings without further explanation (or exposition). At other times and with

different people (here with his disciples) he explained the meanings more

fully.

Is there a problem for oral learners in unpacking the gospel message in an

‘expository’ way as suggested by Stott? Lovejoy cites Harold Bryson195 who

has argued against the tendency by some preachers that the definition of

‘expository sermon’ should be further refined (perhaps ‘narrowed’) to require

particular forms of delivery. These include the need for detailed outlines with

major points and sub-points taken from the text.196

Lovejoy also refers to an additional emphasis of expository preaching that has

been highlighted by Bryan Chappell and John MacArthur. They both refer to

the need for a thorough and exhaustive treatment of the biblical text. Chappell

says that, ‘exhausting the text is a distinction of expository preaching that

obligates the preacher to deal with the entire passage.’197 And MacArthur

comments that preaching expositionally means ‘preaching in such a way that

the meaning of the Bible passage is presented entirely and exactly as it was

intended by God.’198

Lovejoy agrees that thoroughness in dealing with the text is commendable in

preaching. But if this is combined with ‘the tendency to make the message

more analytical and the outline more detailed’ then the concern on the part of

the preacher to be exhaustive within each sermon can become a real barrier

for most oral learners.

So when Slack refers to a preference by primary oral learners for no

exposition, I believe it is with detailed and analytical outlines rather than the

basic etymological definition of ‘unpacking or exposing’ that he is concerned.

This preference can also be seen in secondary oral cultures in the west. Neil

Postman, a communications theorist at New York University, looking at

195

Harold T. Bryson, Expository Preaching, (Nashville, Broadman & Holman, 1995) 196

Bryson, p.18-21 197

Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching, (Grand Rapids, Baker, 1994), p.128 198

John MacArthur, Jr., et al., Rediscovering Expository Preaching: Balancing the Science and Art of Biblical Exposition, (Dallas, Word Publishing, 1992), p.23-24, MacArthur’s emphasis

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broader society (not just in a Christian context) sees a decline in the ability of

Americans to cope with exposition and to engage in high-level discourse

about important topics. He blames this on modern technology and especially

television. He says:

Exposition is a mode of thought, a method of learning, and a means of expression. Almost all of the characteristics we associate with mature discourse were amplified by typography, which has the strongest possible bias toward exposition: a sophisticated ability to think conceptually, deductively, and sequentially; a high valuation of reason and order; an abhorrence of contradiction; a large capacity for detachment and objectivity; and a tolerance for delayed response.199

Postman asserts that his three-fold definition of exposition – a way of thinking;

a method of learning; and means of expression – requires a set of skills that

give it a distinctive character. Lovejoy points out that these skills and values

are present in much expository preaching as well. Such preaching is L

L usually conceptual, deductive, and sequential. It values reason and order and seeks to avoid contradiction. L [It] often seeks to communicate an objective (and therefore somewhat detached) approach to the text ... [and] commonly used language such as ‘we see in the text’ L [implies] that the preacher is viewing the text as an object L external L something to be “opened up” on the homiletical dissection table.200

Within the so-called Emergent Church, there has arisen a concern for the

marginalised, an encouragement of literary and other readings of the Bible

and an openness to critique. Paul Wilson in his book ‘Preaching and

Homiletic Theory’201 suggests that postmodern sermons will often seek to

engage the experience of the hearers; attempt to confirm rather than to prove;

value concrete experience over abstraction; allow for participation and

disagreement; and are often inductive and employ narrative.202 It seems that

that some of these features have developed in an attempt to reach out to

western urban society that has developed as a ‘secondary oral culture’.

If a preacher is seeking to transmit the biblical truth to oral learners, then the

he needs to use methods that make sense to them. Gene Davis puts it this

way: ‘People need to meet God and hear Him speak to their hearts in order

199

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, (New York, Elisabeth Sifton Books/Viking, 1985), p.63 200

Grant Lovejoy, ‘But I Did Such a Good Exposition: Literate Preachers Confront Orality.’ , paper presented to the Evangelical Homiletics Society Conference, 2001, p.3 201

Paul Wilson, Preaching and Homiletic Theory, (Atlanta, Chalice Press, 2002) 202

Wilson, Preaching and Homiletic Theory, p.137

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to produce Christian character.’203 Literate-based preaching does not help

oral learners to ‘meet God and hear Him speak to their hearts.’

Some missionaries have begun working among oral groups with their initial

objective to teach literacy to enable the communities to read and then to

receive God’s word. But this is not ‘reaching out’ in the way that Christ did

and we act counter to the incarnational nature of Jesus work. Lovejoy

suggests that if we seek to use preaching to raise literacy levels it is likely to

fail to achieve both objectives. Rather, he suggests that if preaching can

retain the narrative nature of so much of the Bible and there is ‘a commitment

to preach the whole counsel of God L half of our sermons [will be] narrative

based and narrative in style’.204

Accordingly, Lovejoy suggests that preachers who want to reach oral

learners should review the Scriptures that they use for preaching. He

suggests using passages that are in story form and resisting the temptation

to come up with ‘an easy outline’ from one of Paul’s letters. Keep the

narrative form as much as possible and the sense of suspense and drama

that is often in the biblical text. Finally Lovejoy cautions the preacher to avoid

giving long explanations that tend to dull the impact of the story.

Lovejoy’s tips for preaching to oral learners as published in The Baptist

Standard are reproduced in Appendix C.205

A ‘Note’ about Song

Perhaps one of the most effective expressions of orality is through song.

Parry and Lord identified the ritual nature of song in the predominantly oral

culture of Bosnia.206 Within Scripture there is a significant emphasis on song.

This is seen most notably in the Psalms. David wrote many of the Psalms

and some of these had their inspiration during his most difficult trials. They

were the basis for meditation and reflection on God’s character as well as his 203

Gene Davis, ‘Is That Really God Speaking’, International Journal of Frontier Missions 12:2 (1995), p.98 204

Lovejoy, ‘But I Did Such a Good Exposition’, p.8 205

Appendix C, See p.80 206

See A. B. Lord, The Singer of Tales, (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1960) & p.17

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wonders, works and words. But they also contain personal responses of

David and the other writers as they testified to God’s protection and provision

or confessed failure or repentance. The human emotion contained in the

Psalms speaks clearly to the oral communities of today.

In the New Testament there are examples of spiritual songs. It is thought that

Paul quotes an early Christian hymn when he writes to the Philippians about

the humility of Christ.207 Then Paul instructs the Ephesians to, ‘be filled with

the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the

Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord L’.208

During times of spiritual awakening there are often many hymns and songs

written to express and emphasise newly discovered truths. It is said that

Charles Wesley composed and published over seven thousand hymns during

his career.209 These were sung as he travelled across Britain with his brother

John. Not all have stood the test of time (especially beyond the Methodist

Church) but there are many which are still very popular and widely sung

today. The Salvation Army under William Booth took the tunes from very

familiar oral songs which were common in pubs and music halls and

‘converted’ them into Christian hymns.210 At the rallies and evangelistic

gatherings of the Wesleys and during the early days of the Salvation Army,

most of the people attending did not know the hymn tunes or gospel

melodies from churches but they were familiar with music hall melodies.

A significant advantage of the singing of well written Biblical truths is that as

they grow in popularity, the songs/ hymns are sung over and over again and

the words (and therefore the truths on which they are based) which can be

more easily memorised. This has been a feature of primary oral societies as

demonstrated by Lord. It is also increasingly seen in the post-literate

‘secondary orality’ of the twenty-first century.

207

Philippians 2:6-8 208

Ephesians 5:18-19 [My emphasis] 209

Edwin F. Hatfield, The Poets of the Church: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Hymn-Writers, (New York, A.D.F. Randolph & Company, 1884), pp.647-658 210

In his 1880 Christmas message William Booth wrote ‘Secular music, do you say? Belongs to the devil, does it? Well, if it did, I would plunder him for it. 9 Every note and every strain and every harmony is divine and belongs to us.’ See http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki_ihc.nsf/ [Accessed May 2011]

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John Oswald an ethnomusicologist and missiological practitioner working in

Asia, prepared a paper highlighting important features of gospel

communication with reference to Tibetan song. This is published as a chapter

in ‘Communicating Christ Through Story and Song’.211 Oswald comments on

misunderstandings which can arise between Christian and Buddhist

concepts. Sometimes words in a language (be it Tibetan, Thai or Khmer) can

be taken by Christians and invested with a new meaning. Christians may

understand the difference but need to be aware in conversation with Buddhist

enquirers that such an adjustment cannot be made because they will not be

aware of what is, to them, a completely novel Christian concept.212

Oswald observes that, although verbal communication will be used often to

explain such profound differences, ‘music and song can 9 pave a pathway

though the complexities of this process.’213 He says that music ‘preaches; it

can express things we cannot say; it is often the first means by which the

gospel is heard 9’214

J. Nathan Corbitt has also written about the theology of music. He says,

‘Music was preaching for Martin Luther; was a testimony of grace to John Newton 9; and music was the “soul of the Civil Rights Movement” to Martin Luther King Jr.’215

In effect, hymnbooks are the repository of theology for the literate church

while ‘congregational song is the oral theology of the Emerging World

church’. Popular songs contain the belief systems (in Corbitt’s words, ‘the

theological creed’) of secular society.216

In his paper, Oswald goes on to talk about the emergence of ‘heart music’

which is the style of music which most fully expresses the emotions of

cultural insiders. In 2003 a network called the International Council of

Ethnodoxologists was formed to develop and promote ‘culturally appropriate

211

John Oswald, chapter on ‘Gospel Communication in Tibetan Song’, in Paul De Neui, Ed., Communicating Christ Through Story and Song, (Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library, 2008), pp.237-272 212

Lausanne Occasional Paper No 15, Christian Witness to Buddhists, Thailand Report, (LCWE, 1980), p.8 213

De Neui, p.239 214

De Neui, p.240 215

J.Nathan Corbitt, The Sound of the Harvest: Music’s Mission in Church and Culture, (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Books, 1988), p.173 216

Corbitt, p.173

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Christian worship’.217 This term has its roots in the Greek words ‘ethne’

(peoples) and ‘doxos’ (glory or praise). It was coined by Dave Hall who

defines it as

‘the study of the worship of God among diverse cultures’ or, ‘the theological and practical study of how and why people of diverse cultures praise and glorify the true and living God as revealed in the Bible.’218

Ethnodoxology covers all of the arts (such as dance, drama, video, visuals) as

well as how people participate in other aspects of church life such as preaching,

the communion, baptism, and the offering. But it goes beyond worship as an

event because it studies how worship shapes, or is shaped by, life as lived within

a cultural or ethnic group. This echoes Paul’s words in Romans, ‘I urge you,9 to

offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true

and proper worship.’219

Oswald focuses on Tibetan Christian experience with songs but also uses

reports and accounts from several Asian countries. He shows that songs

written by national believers are more likely to address local cultural norms

than those translated from other languages. In relation to Tibet he observes

that ‘heart music focused on Christ and his gospel is quietly on the increase

in these mountain lands.’220

Some of the features of Tibetan Christian songs pick up on the

characteristics of oral societies identified by Ong and others. Communities

are more important than in the individualistic west. Analysis of songs

originating in English and in Tibetan show opposite profiles for the use of the

first person singular (I, me, mine) and the first person plural (we, us, ours).

English songs had a 60% preference for ‘I’ while the Tibetan ones a 65%

preference for ‘We’.

217

International Council of Ethnodoxologists, see www.worldofworship.org [accessed May 2011] 218

See www.worldofworship.org/Ethnodoxology.php [Accessed May 2011] 219

Romans 12:1 220

De Neui, p.248

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Section III – Reaching out

with the spoken word

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Chapter 5: Tools for the Task

Programmes to reach Oral Communities

Given the enormity of the task of reaching over 60% of the world’s population

with the Gospel, it is understandable that there are many different plans and

programmes in use or being developed today. These are helpful because it is

likely that there is no one size that suits all and it is constructive if the

individuals and organisations working in this field can share their ideas and

learn from each other.

Over the last ten years, co-operative networks have been set up. As a result,

research and practical out-working of strategies are being shared. In 2001,

following an orality consultation in California, the ‘Oral Bible Network’ (OBN)

was formed by four initial partners. This network grew after two further

consultations and provided significant input in 2004, to a forum organised in

Thailand by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation. Orality was

one of 31 ‘issue’ working groups which had been set up. The results of this

work was edited and published as ‘Making Disciples of Oral Learners’’.221 The

following year the Lausanne working group merged with the OBN to form the

International Orality Network (ION).222

Avery Willis, was the first executive director of the ION, which had developed

into a partnership of 22 mission agencies including the Southern Baptist

Convention's International Mission Board (IMB), Youth With a Mission

(YWAM), Trans World Radio, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Wycliffe Bible

Translators. In an article called ‘Winning the Oral Majority’ in the 18th May

2010 issue of Christianity Today, he is quoted as saying ‘Since the printing of

the Gutenberg Bible Western Christianity "has walked on literate feet,"

indirectly requiring literacy for evangelism and discipleship.’223 There are

many programmes being developed by ‘specialists’ (often linked with or

motivated by ION) who are catching the vision to reach out to the ‘oral

majority’ with the gospel. 221

LOP No.54, 222

From http://oralbible.com/about/history [Accessed Feb 2011] 223

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/march/30.56.html

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Chronological Storying

In the 1970s Trevor McIlwain was working with New Tribes Mission (NTM) in

the Philippines. He tried various teaching methods as he worked with a tribal

group who had professed faith in Christ but had reverted later to many former

beliefs. Then he began to develop an approach which he later documented in

‘Firm Foundations’ series.224 This became widely known and used for

teaching and discipleship in many places including Cambodia where it is

produced in bi-lingual Khmer-English versions. This approach is often referred

to as Chronological Bible Teaching (CBT). 225

Other techniques, some more related to storytelling were used in the 1980s.

One of these, the ‘God and Man’ series developed in Philippines226 by Dell

and Sue Schultze, has also seen a significant spread around the world. The

full CBT approach involves as many as seven Phases of teaching. The first

four are for ‘New Believers’ working through the Old Testament, Gospels,

Acts, the Epistles and then Revelation. The last three are for ‘Maturing

Believers’ again working through the whole sweep of scripture. These Phases

are set out in the diagram in Appendix D.227

McIlwain’s CBT approach attracted the interest of Jim Slack (of IMB) and

other missionaries from the NTM working in other parts of the Philippines. As

they began to use the material they recognised that it was too literate for use

by many Filipino church leaders. To meet the needs of oral learners, several

missionaries began to work on adaptations which used more narrative

material but retaining some expositional teaching. Collectively these became

known as Chronological Bible Storying (CBS).

Some practitioners were, and are, hesitant about using stories to teach

Biblical truths. But N. T. Wright suggests in his book ‘New Testament and the

People of God’ that a ‘story, with its pattern of problem and conflict, of aborted

attempts at resolution, and final result, . . . is, if we may infer from the

224

T McIlwain, Firm foundations: Creation to Christ, (Sanford, FL: New Tribes Mission, 1991) 225

See the CBT steps developed and used by McIlwain are set out in Appendix D (p.75) 226

Dell G. Schultze and Rachel Sue Schultze, God and Man (Manila: Privately published, 1984; rev. ed., 1987; Manila: Church Strengthening Ministry, 1994) 227

Appendix D, p.81

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common practice of the world, universally perceived as the best way of talking

about the way the world actually is.’228

As well as working towards the objective of the oral transmission of the stories

rather than using a written text, CBS takes account of the bridges and barriers

for and to the gospel for each particular group. This may result in needing a

different (or adapted) set of stories for each application. Also important in the

CBS approach is the need for the stories to be memorable so that they can be

easily reproduced with accuracy.

Appendix E229 includes the ten step process which is included in one of the

training programme to help in developing a Bible story set. It is important that

the collection of stories is chosen with a clear objective and that there is

proper accountability and feedback. Not every organisation using storying has

the same approach. As is out in Hurley’s work below,230 some have a concern

for as literal a narrative as possible while others encourage the use of a more

flowing interpretation.

There are even greater risks inherent in these choices for programmes

seeking to reach oral learners than there are for printed translations which I

looked at in Chapter 3. A literal translation will be harder for the hearers to

understand and remember but it has a much lower risk of not being true to the

original. On the other hand, a translation produced to flow in the oral style and

form of the hearer’s language is likely to be used, remembered and

reproduced but has a greater risk of misrepresenting the original. Great care

and skill are required to get the balance right. This is one of the reasons why

those organisations involved in storying programmes attach great importance

to training.

Techniques and procedures are used to ensure that stories and story sets are

‘true to the biblical story’. Practitioners are encouraged to differentiate biblical

truth from background information (shared before if necessary) and

228

N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), p.40 229

See Appendix E, p.82 230

See Different approaches to ‘Storying’ below, p.62

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implications, application and elaboration which can be part of a post-story

dialogue time. These points are listed in Appendix E as Slack’s guidelines on

‘Maintaining the integrity of the story’.231

The two programmes below essentially follow a standard CBS approach.

• Scripture in Use (SIU)

Scriptures In Use specializes in providing resources and training grass roots

church planters who communicate the Oral Bible, guiding and mentoring each

church planter to develop a grass roots church planting ministry through

simple Bible storytelling and other traditional oral communication media.232

SIU offers a Communication Bridges to Oral Cultures training course that

instils a love for the Scriptures in the mother tongue through a systematic

chronological Bible storytelling approach. This 4-day, intensive training

teaches the fundamentals of evangelism and discipleship for local leaders or

trainers working among non-literate or traditionally oral people groups

• Following Jesus Series

Following Jesus: Making Disciples of Oral Learners, (2002) an orally-based

discipleship resource. Following Jesus models the practice of identifying a

biblical truth that should be taught, inquiring how the people group would

perceive that truth through their worldview, and then selecting biblical stories

that could be used to teach that truth in light of that worldview. It consists of

seven modules of 53 audio CDs that teach how to communicate to oral

learners.

231

See Appendix E, p.82 232

See www.siutraining.org/resources.htm [Accessed 20 March 2011]

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Different approaches to ‘Storying’

Rachel Hurley, an SIL missionary working with International Cooperation

Cambodia233 in Cambodia has studied methods of reaching oral learners in

Cambodia. A partial summary of resources available in April 2008 can be

found in Appendix E.234 This summary includes manuals to explain techniques

as well as audio and visual materials. Recently Hurley examined235 different

techniques of storying.

Hurley demonstrates that the use of the term ‘Bible storying’ does not indicate

an identical process in different mission organizations. She compared three

different oral Bible story methods. The first is a method called ‘Bible Telling’

which was developed by John Walsh and the Christian Storytelling Network

(CSN);236 the second is from the OneStory partnership237 which brought

together several organisations interested in developing quality stories for

Chronological Bible Storying (CBS); and the third is ‘Simply the Story’ from

the God’s Story project238 which seeks to provide a means of doing ‘inductive

bible study in an oral style’.

The CSN model encourages tellers to learn the story, internalise it and then

tell it in as natural a way as possible. This is an informal approach and there is

not a concern for a word-perfect reproduction of the story. The OneStory

technique undertakes a sociolinguistic survey of the recipient group and the

series of stories are crafted and tested with great care (much like a translation

would be) over a period of time. Finally, Simply the Story develops what

Hurley calls ‘a literal paraphrase’239 taking note of the warning in Revelation

not to add or subtract any words.240 The stories are not ‘crafted’ and there is a

concern that it is the Holy Spirit (rather than those developing or telling the

story) who should take and apply the oral Word.

233

SIL operates in Cambodia as part of a multi-agency NGO called International Cooperation Cambodia (ICC) 234

For Appendix E see p.82 235

Rachel E. Hurley, Oral Bible Stories: A Brief Comparison of Three Telling Methods, (paper submitted in partial fulfilment of course on Research Methods for the Performing Arts, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, 2009) 236

See www.bibletelling.org 237

See www.onestory.org 238

See www.gods-story.org/sts/ 239

Hurley (2009), Section IV 240

Revelation 22: 18-19

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Hurley concludes that each method has value and that they could each learn

from the other.241 As a language researcher she highlights the importance of

understanding the culture and storying techniques of the recipient group. She

suggests that the success of any technique can be measured by the

indigenisation of the local church. This will happen as people are converted

and discipled through material in their ‘heart language.’ Hurley suggests that

storying, if done through culturally appropriate means, can ‘oxygenise the

heart of the local church.’

The OneStory partnership provides a useful model of cooperation to produce

worthwhile materials and training in ways that transcend the individual

agencies.

• OneStory

OneStory, (previously called Epic) is a partnership founded and managed by

Campus Crusade, International Missions Board (of the Southern Baptists),

Trans World Radio, Wycliffe International and YWAM and partnering with

many others. 242 Each partner organization has a particular set of strengths to

bring to the task of taking the gospel to the least-reached people groups and

those without the Bible. In encouraging storying and other oral strategies, the

OneStory objective is to see a response to the gospel which will result in

healthy, indigenous and reproducing churches. Training and workshops are

available to encourage the establishment of OneStory training centres. These

will prepare forty to fifty initial stories in an unreached people’s language

involving and equipping mother-tongue storyers to tell the stories and multiply

churches.

241

Hurley (2009), Concluding Remarks 242

See www.onestory.org

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Other initiatives (materials & training)

Among other programmes (both individual and collaborative) currently

providing materials and training for reaching oral communicators are the

following.

• Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH)

FCBH has dramatized word-for-word recordings of the entire New Testament

in 150 languages, with 50 more in process.243 They have training on how to

use these recordings to disciple oral people through the formation of Faith

Comes By Hearing listening groups. There are 25 national recording teams in

12 Recording Service Centres located throughout the world that are trained to

do dramatized recordings including music and sound effects with portable

digital recording and editing equipment.

• Radio ministries

Radio plays an important part in supporting oral approaches. FEBA Radio has

partnered with other agencies in Central Asia, the Middle East and North

Africa in broadcasting stories. TWR has identified orality as one of five top

strategic initiatives. In Cambodia, for example, TWR is producing dramatized

story sets on an SD card which can be played in a low cost ‘sound box’ using

batteries and can be charged from a car battery or using a phone charger.

• Global Recordings Network (GRN)244

GRN has produced audio and audio-visual Bible-based evangelism and

discipling resources in more than 5500 languages designed specifically for

non- and minimally-literate people groups. GRN uses language speakers to

record Bible stories and other materials their own ‘heart’ language245 in as

natural a way as possible. These resources continue to be refined as GRN

develops strategic partnerships with other like-minded organizations to reach

the unreached oral communicators of the world.

243

See www.fcbh.org [Accessed 20 March 2011] 244

See http://globalrecordings.net/de/1464 [Accessed April 2011] 245

Nelson Mandela said, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.’ http://www.africanvoices.co.za/ [Accessed April 2011]

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• The Radio Bible Project

The Radio Bible Project is a global partnership between Hosanna/Faith

Comes By Hearing, the International Bible Society, Trans World Radio, and

the United Bible Societies formed to bring the Word of God to oral

societies.246 The Radio Bible consists of 365 fifteen-minute broadcasts of

stories from the Old and New Testaments. These allow both literate and oral

communicators the opportunity to hear the Bible in an interesting dramatized

format.

246

See www.theradiobible.org [Accessed March 2011]

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Chapter 6: Getting on with the Job

Why is there a reluctance to embrace Oral Methods?

I pointed out earlier that Kelber has identified a lack of biblical scholarship

which includes a genuine appreciation of orality studies.247 It is not surprising,

therefore, that there is a similar reluctance to embrace oral methods on the

part of literate practitioners (evangelists and church planters) who have been

trained also to think ‘in literary, linear, and visual terms.’

In addition to the fact that practitioners do not come from oral communities,

from discussions and observations in Cambodia I suggest that there are at

least four reasons for this reluctance.

Firstly it can be because of lack of awareness. In talking to Christian workers

and sharing the title of this dissertation I have often been met with the

response ‘What is orality?’ Even, at times, some people have thought that

they heard me say ‘morality’! So, in spite of the work of the ION and its

members and the focus on ‘orality’ by organisations such as Lausanne, many

people have not come to terms with fact that so many people do not have

access to God’s word because they cannot read.

Secondly it can be from a lack of understanding. For some in missions work

‘orality’ means ‘Bible storying’ and that is all.248 There is a need to highlight

the range of methods that are available to reach oral communicators. There is

also a need for mission workers to understand that there are different degrees

of literacy.249 It would also be helpful for missions who have embraced orality

to develop and promote a simple but objective test which would allow those

working in specific areas (both urban and rural) to find out the nature and

extent of literacy among those with whom they are working. This would help to

highlight the blockages to either responding to the gospel for the first time or

to showing signs of growth in their Christian discipleship.

247

Kelber, The oral and the written Gospel, p.2; and see comments at p.22 above 248

In asking whether Christian workers used oral techniques, it has not been uncommon for me to be told that ‘those with whom I work are all literate.’ 249

See pp.25-26 above

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Thirdly the reluctance can result from fear of doctrinal error. There is a

concern that doctrines cannot be communicated adequately by storying. N.T,

Wright points out the error of assuming that Jesus’ parables are simply

illustrations of truths that could otherwise have been told in a more abstract

way. Rather, he says that Jesus’ stories ‘like all stories in principle, invited his

hearers into a new world, making the implicit suggestion that the new

worldview be tried on for size with a view to permanent purchase.’250

Some would argue that Romans, for example, cannot be told in a narrative

format. But much concern is about the lack of reference points in an oral

culture and there being no checks and balances. Again sometimes this can be

a risk because of lack of knowledge or training. A comic illustration about the

distortion of messages passed from person to person comes to mind.251 I

seek to address these concerns in the next section on ‘Can Oral Transmission

of God’s Word be Trusted?’252

Finally there can be a natural reluctance to change. This is especially so when

there is no perceived need. In some mission areas, strong indigenous

churches have been established and the work is thriving. It is difficult to

change if existing methods are to be ‘tried and tested’ having worked in other

places and at other times. In others, if progress in making disciples is slow

then this may be excused by suggesting that it is all part of the spiritual

warfare. Logical, expositional ministry can also seem to be more Biblical than

‘telling stories’ which are associated with Children’s ministry rather. But

perhaps mission worker’s own experience of learning (coming from a literate

culture) and our cultural baggage is getting in the way.

If the church is to take the task of ‘making disciples’ seriously then it must be

prepared to put itself in the shoes of those it is seeking to reach. All too often

Christian workers come from a highly literate background with years of

academic learning and we approach the task (as ‘transmitters’) from that

perspective. Instead there is a need to consider those are being taught (the

250

Wright, p .77 251

When, after many repetitions, the message ‘Send reinforcements, we are going to advance!’ becomes ‘Send three and fourpence we are going to a dance!’ 252

See p.68 below

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‘receptors’). In considering orality – and, perhaps, in other areas too – there

is a constant need to evaluate and reassess methods and approaches.

Can Oral Transmission of God’s Word be trusted?

In the 1995 special edition of the IJFM, Ansre wrote about two common

modes of speech media – ‘orality’ and ‘graphology.’ Orality, has already been

defined;253 Ansre uses the term ‘graphology’ for all written communication –

whether writing or printing.

Ansre wrote that committing messages to print will give permanence to the

form and content which has not been possible with oral transmission. This has

been highly effective in evangelism and teaching, and is potentially long-

lived.254 With current technology, on the other hand, it seems likely that orality

can match or even surpass the effectiveness of the written word among oral

communicators.

Many mission leaders of the past also assumed that the written word is

necessary for the development of ministry, but again, the facts disprove this.

There are godly Christian pastors and evangelists who are not functionally

literate, but who have memorized the Word and internalized its message. Oral

communicators are often the best ones to reach other non-readers, because

they have not lost their oral communication skills.255

In the section above on Preaching for oral learners256 I explored the nature

and content of preaching and how there is a need to include narrative and

other forms of preaching in order to reach oral learners – whether primary or

secondary.257 This dissertation has been about ‘orality’ and meeting the needs

of oral learners but of course preaching is ‘oral transmission’ of God’s word

and that usually happens at least once every week in churches throughout the

world.

253

See Chapter 1 on p.10 above 254

Ansre, IJFM 1995, p. 65 255

R Brown, Communication God’s Word to an Oral Culture, (Paper, 2001) 256

Starting on p.48 257

See pp.52-53

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However, when preaching to a literate congregation it is not uncommon for

the preacher to encourage hearers to read and engage with the text for

themselves. In Acts, Luke notes this very behaviour from the Berean Jews in

response to the teaching of Paul in the synagogue. He says that ‘they

received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures

every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them

believed.’258

Paul gives this warning in one of his letters:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!259

Indeed, church history from New Testament times onwards has many

examples of the gospel being distorted. It is essential to recognise that there

is a need to be aware of the spiritual dimension as God builds and protects

his church.

In the section above on The Bible as ‘God’s Word’260 I set out some of the

issues with which Bible translators have to grapple. I pointed to the evidence

within the Bible itself of the legitimacy of translation – even when the

translation may have been produced without the discoveries and scholarship

that we have available today. 261 I have noted Beckwith’s comment that ‘the

transmission of the text is firmly controlled by the providence of God.’ As a

result we can that have confidence any changes because of archaeological

finds or further scholarship and research will not undermine God’s purpose to

guide his people through Scripture. 262 These issues of changes and revisions

of the written word will also apply to the oral word.

Those working to provide materials, whether through storying, oral bibles or

resources in other media, as mentioned in Chapter 5263 have been concerned

to have built in checks and balances. In this way, the truths of the Gospel can

be checked and monitored and corrections and adjustments made to the

material that has been used.

258

Acts 17:11-12 259

Gal 1:8 260

Starting on p.33 261

See pp.34-35 262

Beckwith, p.33 263

Starting on p.58

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But ultimately, as with preaching to literate congregations, there is a need to

rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to bring the spoken word of God alive in the

hearts of those who will hear.

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Conclusion

For the Great Commission task to be accomplished we must change.

Changes must be made at all levels and in all areas of the Christian church; in

the so-called literate west and the emerging power-houses of the east; in

cities as well as in the more remote rural areas of the developing world; in

mega churches and in small cell churches; and in Bible Colleges and in

places of commerce and business.

Fifteen years ago Klem wrote:

After over 150 years of literacy based mission strategy, we will still miss half the world if we continue believing that people must read in order to receive the Word.264

The figures are even greater today both proportionately and in absolute

terms.265 I have touched briefly on the use of song in the Bible and in more

recent church history.266 David Lim has written of the need for the church to

rediscover Biblical worship (in its widest sense) as a means of communication

the gospel more effectively to those in need. He claims that it is not just

tinkering at the edges but a much more radical innovation that is needed to

enable Christians and churches to grow to full maturity in Christ. This includes

meeting in smaller groups, using Bible storying, serving our neighbours and

allowing those of other faiths (and none) to see that Christianity makes a

difference in the way we live our lives.267

Robin Green sets out a convincing case for an oral ‘translation’ of Scripture

prepared specifically and as a permanent tool for use by oral

communicators.268 He challenges translators to see such an ‘oral Bible’ in

certain situations as

L neither substitute (implying inferiority) nor supplement (implying insufficiency), but a more appropriate alternative (implying equality).269

This should be seen as an additional strategy to be used alongside Bible

Storying. It could provide a reliable and trusted source document for primary

264

Klem in IJFM, 1995, p. 64 265

See p.27 above 266

Section beginning on p.53 267

David Lim, Biblical Worship Rediscovered, in De Neui, p. 59 268

See p.43 above 269

Green, Orality and Bible Translation, pp.105-106

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oral communities in the same way as a printed Bible can be for literate

communities. This would provide an important means to safeguard to

doctrinal integrity in the spirit of Acts 17.270

The church and mission community must not allow the literate training and

background of church leaders and missionaries to produce another barrier for

oral learners which is not justified by scripture.271 Rather, allow the Holy Spirit

to produce the ‘living word’ as he transforms lives in ways that will leave us

amazed. Lim quotes Albert Einstein: ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over

and over and expecting different results.’272 Let us not be guilty of such

madness.

The task is immense, the technology is available, the tools are being

produced, and there are many opportunities to both evangelise and disciple

oral communities. Let us not allow ignorance, fear or complacency to prevent

the advance of the kingdom of God.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to let Paul have the last word. He said

‘I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.’273

270

See p.69 above 271

See Klem’s comment quoted on p.30 above 272

De Neui, p.59 273

1 Cor 9:22b

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Bibliography

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Ansre, Gilbert, The crucial role of oral-Scripture: Focus Africa. (International Journal of Frontier Missions 12.2, 1995), p. 65-68

Armstrong, Hayward, Tell the Story: A primer on Chronological Bible Storying, (Rockville, Virginia, International Centre for Excellence in Leadership, 2003)

Brown, Richard D., Communicating God’s message in an oral culture, (International Journal of Frontier Missions 21.3, 2004), p. 122-28

Bryson, Harold T., Expository Preaching, (Nashville, Broadman & Holman, 1995)

Burton, Maxine, et al., Progress for Adult Literacy Learners, (online research report for National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy, 2010) [Retrieved April 2011 http://www.nrdc.org.uk/publications_list.asp ]

Chapell, Bryan, Christ-Centered Preaching, (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker, 1994)

Corbitt, J.Nathan, The Sound of the Harvest: Music’s Mission in Church and Culture, (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Books, 1988)

De Neui, Paul H., ed., Communicating Christ Through Story and Song: Orality in Buddhist Contexts, (Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library, 2008)

Dye, T. Wayne. Bible translation strategy: An analysis of its spiritual impact, (Dallas, Wycliffe Bible Translators, 1985)

Dyer, Paul D, Was Jesus a Zairian? (International Journal of Frontier Missions 12.2, 1995), p. 83-86

Elmer, Duane, Cross-cultural connections: Stepping out and fitting in around the world. (Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity, 2002)

Fanning, Don, Chronological Bible Storying/Teaching, (Liberty University Center for Global Missions, 2009)

Finnegan, Ruth, The Oral and Beyond: Doing Things with Words in Africa. (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2007)

Garrison, David, Church Planting Movements: How God is redeeming a Lost World, (Bangalore, India, WIGTake Resources, 2004)

Gee, J. P., What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy, revised and updated. (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)

Gee, J. P., Orality and literacy: From The Savage Mind to Ways with Words, TESOL Quarterly, 20, 1986 [Reprinted in Janet Maybin, ed., Language and Literacy in Social Practice. Clevedon, Philadelphia, (Adelaide, Multilingual Matters/The Open University, 1990) pp. 168-192]

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Goldsworthy, G., Gospel and Kingdom, (Carlisle, Paternoster, 1994)

Green, Robin, An Orality Strategy: Translating the Bible for Oral Communicators, (MA thesis, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, 2007)

Hatfield, Edwin F, The Poets of the Church: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Hymn-Writers, (New York, A.D.F. Randolph & Company, 1884)

Hill, H & Margaret Hill, Translating the Bible into Action, (Carlisle, Piquant, 2008)

Hill, M. and Harriet Hill, Richard Bagge, Pat Miersma, Healing the wounds of Trauma, (Nairobi, Paulines, Ed 2007)

Hurley, Rachel E., Oral Bible Stories: A Brief Comparison of Three Telling Methods, (paper submitted in partial fulfilment of course on Research Methods for the Performing Arts, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, 2009)

Kelber, Werner H., The oral and the written Gospel, (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1983)

Kilham, Christine A., A written style for oral communicators (Notes on Translation, Special Edition, No.123:12, SIL, 1987)

Klem, Herbert V., Dependence on Literacy Strategy, Taking a Hard Second Look. (International Journal of Frontier Missions 12(2), 1995), p. 59-64

Klem, Herbert V., Oral communication of the Scripture. (Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library, 1982)

Kraft, Charles H. Communicating the Gospel God’s way (Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library, 1980)

Kruidenier, J. Research-based Principles for Adult Basic Education Reading Instruction. (Portsmouth, NH: National Institute for Literacy. 2002)

Koehler, Paul F., Telling God's Stories with Power - Biblical Storytelling in Oral Cultures, (Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library, 2010)

Lausanne Occasional Paper (LOP) No.15, Christian Witness to Buddhists, Thailand Report, (LCWE, 1980)

Lausanne Occasional Paper (LOP) No.54, Making Disciples of Oral Learners, (LCWE, 2005)

Loewen, Jacob A., ‘Bible Stories: Message and Matrix’, in Culture and Human Values: Christian Intervention in Anthropological Perspective, 370-376 (Pasadena, CA, William Carey Library, 1975).

Lovejoy, Grant, ‘But I Did Such a Good Exposition: Literate Preachers Confront Orality.’ , paper presented to the Evangelical Homiletics Society Conference, 2001

Lovejoy, G., That All May Hear, Lausanne Movement, Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper, http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/10363, (accessed 21 March 2011)

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Lovejoy, Grant, ‘The Extent of Orality.’ (The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry vol 5, no. 1, Spring 2008), pp.121-134

MacArthur, Jr., John, et al., Rediscovering Expository Preaching: Balancing the Science and Art of Biblical Exposition, (Dallas, Word Publishing, 1992)

Malmstrom, Marilyn, My tongue is the pen, (Dallas, Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1991)

Maybin, Janet, ed., Language and Literacy in Social Practice: A Reader (Philadelphia, Multilingual Matters, 1994),

McIlwain, Trevor, Firm foundations: Creation to Christ, (Sanford, FL, New Tribes Mission, 1991)

McLellan, Dave, Recovering a Sense of Orality in Homiletics, A paper presented to conference of Evangelical Homiletics Society, 2005, retrieved from http://www.ehomiletics.com/papers/05/McClellan2005.pdf [Accessed April 2011]

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Ong, Walter J, Orality and literacy: Technologizing of the Word, (London, Routledge, 1983)

Ong, Walter J, Orality-Literacy Studies and the Unity of the Human Race (in Oral Tradition, 2/1 1987)

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Slack, James B., The Ways People Learn,

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Slack, James B., Orality, Literacy, and Communication. Unpublished paper. Section I of Chronological Bible Storying.(SBC, 1996)

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Steffen, Tom and J.O. Terry, ‘The Sweeping Story of Scripture Taught through Time.’ in Missiology 35 (July 2007), pp. 315-335

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Strong, James, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, 2009)

Thomas, Rosalind, Literacy and Orality in Ancient Greece, (New York, Cambridge University Press, 1992)

Thompson, L.W., The Nonliterate and the Transfer of Knowledge in West Africa, (MA Thesis, University of Texas at Arlington, Thompson, Fort Worth, Texas, 1998)

Wagner, Daniel A. “Literacy and Development: Rationales, Myths, Innovations and Future Directions.” Papers from the 2nd Asia Regional Literacy Forum (1993): p.1-32. Document online: http://www.literacyonline.org/products/ili/webdocs/wagner/html.

Weber, Hans Rudi, Communicating the Gospel to Illiterates, (London, SCM Press, 1957).

Wilson, John D., Scripture in an Oral Culture: The Yali of Irian Jaya (Adapted from unpublished MTh Dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 1988)

Wilson, Paul, Preaching and Homiletic Theory, (Atlanta, Chalice Press, 2002)

Wright, N. T., The New Testament and the People of God (Minneapolis, Fortress, 1992)

Unesco Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006, Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005)

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Appendices

Appendix A – UNESCO Definition of Terms

From the Glossary of the EFA Global Monitoring Report for 2006: 274

Adult literacy rate. Number of literate persons aged 15 and above, expressed as a percentage of the total population in that age group. Different ways of defining and assessing literacy yield different results regarding the number of persons designated as literate.

Functional literacy/illiteracy. A person is functionally literate/illiterate who can/cannot engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning of his or her group and community and also for enabling him or her to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his or her own and the community’s development. (Definition originally approved in 1978 at UNESCO’s General Conference, and still in use today.)

Literacy. According to UNESCO’s 1958 definition, it is the ability of an individual to read and write with understanding a simple short statement related to his/her everyday life. The concept of literacy has since evolved to embrace multiple skill domains, each conceived on a scale of different mastery levels and serving different purposes. See Chapter 6 for a detailed discussion.

Literacy practices. The actual uses and applications of literacy skills in specific social settings (e.g. households, markets, workplaces, public offices, religious ceremonies, political movements).

Literacy projects/programmes. Limited-duration initiatives designed to impart initial or ongoing basic reading, writing and/or numeracy skills.

Literate/Illiterate. As used in the statistical annex, the term refers to a person who can/cannot read and write with understanding a simple statement related to her/his everyday life. (Based on UNESCO’s 1958 definition.)

Multiple literacies. The concept of a multiplicity of skills such as ‘information literacy’ ‘visual literacy’, ‘media literacy’ and ‘scientific literacy’.

Oral literacy. Transmission of knowledge by word of mouth from one generation to another. The term is derived from ethnography and anthropology.

Youth literacy rate. Number of literate persons aged 15 to 24, expressed as a percentage of the total population in that age group.

274

Literacy for Life, (Paris, UNESCO, 2005), Glossary, p.418-423

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Appendix B – Differences between Oral and Print Communicators

From Brown (1995), adapted from Ong (1982). All pages from Ong 1982.

Oral Communicators ... Print Communicators ... Page ref

in Ong

Llearn by hearing (hearing-dominance). Llearn by seeing (sight-dominance). 121

Llearn by observing and imitating, by

listening and repeating, by memorizing

proverbs, traditional sayings, stories, songs,

and expressions.

Llearn by reading non-fiction, by

studying, examining, classifying,

comparing, analyzing.

8-9,

41, 43

Lthink and talk about events, not words. Lthink and talk about words, concepts,

principles.

12, 61

L’use stories of human action to store,

organize, and communicate much of what

they know’; information is ‘embedded in the

flow of time’ usually on a ‘story line’.

Lmanage knowledge “in elaborate,

more or less scientifically abstract

categories”, and store it in print rather

than in stories.

140,

141

Lmemorize information handed down from

the past.

Lseek to discover new information. 41

Lvalue tradition Lvalue novelty 41

Lview matters in the totality of their context,

including everyone involved.

Lview matters abstractly and

analytically.

175

Llearn and retain knowledge in relation to

real or imagined events in human life.

Llearn and retain knowledge as general

principles, with events as examples.

42

Lrecite genealogies but make few lists. Lmake lists but recite few genealogies. 43

Lrelate closely to the people and events

they know about.

Lrelate more objectively to what they

know, because writing comes between

them.

46

Lreason from experience and association. Lreason logically, with analysis and

explanation.

172

Ltend to communicate in groups. Ltend to communicate one-to-one. 69, 74

Llearn mostly in interaction with other

people.

Llearn mostly alone. 69

Lare deeply affected by the sound of what

they hear.

Lare affected by the content of what

they read.

73

Lemphasize clarity and style of speech. Lemphasize clarity and validity of

reasoning.

109

Lview speech primarily as a way of relating

to people, or as a form of entertainment.

Lview speech primarily as a means of

conveying information.

177

Lrespond to a speaker while he is

speaking and participate in the story-telling.

Lgenerally read or listen quietly,

privately.

42

Lengage in verbal contests, trying to excel

in praise, insults, riddles, jokes, etc.

Lengage in few verbal contests, but

write letters to the editor, etc.

44

Lbelieve that oral exchange should

normally be formal, carefully articulated.

Lbelieve that oral exchange should

normally be informal, casual.

136

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Oral Communicators ... Print Communicators ... Page ref

in Ong

Lcan produce, in some cases, beautiful

verbal art forms, such as epic poems and

ballads.

Lcan produce, in some cases,

interesting literature, but generally not

verbal art forms of a high quality.

14

Lview a written text as a record of

something spoken or an aid to

memorization.

Lview a written text as a vessel of

information.

126

Loften imagine the sounds of the words

when they read.

Ltake in the content but not the sound

when they read.

121

Lprefer to read aloud to groups. Lprefer to read alone. 131

Lcommunicate by joining sentences with

conjunctions such as ‘and’, ‘then’.

Lcommunicate by joining sentences

with subjunctions such as ‘while’, ‘after’.

37

Lfrequently use words in set phrases, such

as sayings, proverbs, riddles, formulas, or

just descriptions such as ‘brave soldier’.

Lgenerally use words independently,

with few set phrases.

38

Lappreciate repetition, in case something

was missed the first time.

Ldo not like repetition, since material

missed can be read again.

39

Llike verbosity because speaking is fast. Llike brevity because writing is slow. 40

Luse exaggerated praise or scorn. Luse moderate praise or scorn. 45

Lprefer heavy characters in their stories. Lprefer realistic characters in stories. 70

Lcreate art forms that emphasize struggle

against an enemy.

Lcreate art forms that emphasize

struggle to reach a goal or overcome an

obstacle.

44

Luse symbols and stories to illustrate the

message.

Luse charts, diagrams, and lists to

explain the message.

101,

130

Lcan organize experiences, episodes, etc. Lcan organize long, logical arguments. 57

Lconstruct longer narratives by stringing

episodes together; themes may be

repeated in several episodes.

Lconstruct narratives with

chronologically linear plots that reach a

climax and resolution; any themes are

validated by the outcome.

142,

144,

147

Luse their hands to help express

themselves when they tell stories, through

gestures or by playing musical instruments.

Luse their hands little, since gestures

are not written or read.

67, 47

Lleave much of the message un-

verbalized, depending instead on shared

situation, shared culture, intonation, facial

gestures, and hand gestures to help

communicate the message.

Lmust, when writing, make the

message clear without recourse to

situation, gesture, or intonation.

104,

106

Lcan be imprecise, and clarify as needed,

based on the listener’s reaction.

Lmust, when writing, avoid ambiguities

and vagaries.

106

Lavoid answering questions directly. Lanswer questions directly. 68

Lare uninterested in definitions. Lappreciate definitions. 47

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Appendix C – Tips for preaching to oral learners

Grant Lovejoy, preaching professor at Southwestern Seminary, suggested

seven principles to guide preaching for an audience of oral learners:275

1. Preach from biblical stories frequently. ‘Highly literate people gravitate

to Paul because his writings are easy to outline. Instead, preach from

passages that are in story form.’

2. Keep the narrative quality of the passage intact. ‘Give the story as a

story,’ he suggested, rather than imposing a propositional structure and

outline.

3. Sprinkle the sermon with proverbial sayings. Oral learners enjoy

pointed, pithy, memorable sayings. ‘Give them the kind of thing

someone will bring back three weeks later as a cross-stitch.’

4. Respect the power of the biblical story. ‘Ask yourself, “What is it that

you are doing that improves on what God has given?”'

5. Retain the suspense and drama of the biblical story. Allow listeners to

experience the story as it first was presented.

6. Help listeners relive the story. ‘Don't tell it in Joe Friday fashion--just

the facts, ma'am. Surround them with the reality of the story.’

7. Resist the temptation to over-explain. Oral learners neither grasp nor

appreciate long explanations that dull the impact of a good story.

275

From http://www.baptiststandard.com/2001/4_2/print/literacy_tips.html [Accessed April2011]

Orality+Christian Discipleship - May 2011 Ivor C Greer

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Appendix D – Phases of Chronological Bible Teaching (CBT)

Old Testament Gospels Acts Epistles— Revelation

Phase I Unbelievers

Mixed groups

Believers

Separation Solution

Phase II New believers Security

Phase III New believers Preparation for Epistles

Phase IV

New believers Function of NT church Christian walk

Phase V Maturing believers God’s work in OT individuals

Training of disciples

Sanctification

Phase VI

Maturing believers

Expository teaching

Phase VII Maturing believers Expository teaching

Phases of Chronological Bible Teaching (CBT)

(Source: Adapted from McIlwain, 1981:12a-12c, 1987:131)1

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Appendix E – Guidelines in producing Bible Stories

The Ten Step Process to develop a Bible story set)276

1. Identify the biblical principle or truth you want to communicate; make it clear

and simple.

2. Evaluate the worldview of the chosen people group.

3. Consider and identify the bridges, barriers, and gaps in their worldview.

4. Select the appropriate Bible story or stories that will communicate the

principle considering the worldview issues of the chosen people.

5. Craft the story and plan the pre-story and the post-story dialog to emphasize

the principle or truth you want to communicate.

6. Tell the story in a culturally appropriate way, which will be through narrative

and perhaps also through song, dance, drama, or other means.

7. Facilitate the dialogue with the group to help them discover the meaning and

the application without your having to tell them.

8. Help the group obey the biblical principle.

9. Establish group accountability.

10. Encourage the group to reproduce this by modelling the principles in their

own life and then telling the stories and discipling other people.

Maintaining the integrity of the story (per Slack277)

1. The story should be true to the biblical story

2. Take care not to unduly modernise the story

3. Avoid references to original Hebrew or Greek and meanings

4. Keep in mind the reasons why a story was chosen and shape it to that issue

5. Make sure the story is developed as a told story

6. Keep implications and applications that are not part of the story for the pre-

and post- story dialogue times

7. Be careful not to summarise a story too much

8. Pay careful attention to word choice for appropriate local meanings

9. Further training in translation methods, key term selection, comprehension testing and reviewing accuracy and naturalness may be necessary.

276

From Following Jesus: Making Disciples of Oral Learners, CD Set, quoted in LOP No 54 p. 49-50 277

H. Armstrong, Tell the Story: A primer on Chronological Bible Storying, (Rockville, Virginia, International Centre for Excellence in Leadership, 2003), p. 77-78 [Slack’s comments in the Following Jesus project, 11 July 2001]

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Appendix F – Orality & Storytelling Resources for use in Cambodia278

Usage/Contents Name/Title Supporting organization

Location of Resource

Resource Type

1. Info about the OneStory model

OneStory Partnership of WBTI, etc

www.onestory.org Website

2. Church Planting model for oral societies

Worldview strategic Church Planting Among Oral Cultures

LIFE International

Book (English & Khmer)

3. Various; includes chapters about orality in Cambodia

Communicating Christ Through Story and Song: Orality in Buddhist Contexts

SEANET ICC library Book

4. Khmer Audio Bible- Khmer Standard and 1990 Heng Lim Khmer translations

http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/

Khmer Standard- Cambodian Bible Society

Online Web download

5. Video using clips from movies and a Khmer narrator

Hope [email protected]

VCD/DVD

6. IMB resource Audio CDs with Bible stories, accompanying picture charts.

The Oral Bible School Online Woody Thigpen (IMB)

website IMB materials

7. 6 short VCDs with Khmer actors dramatizing the stories in I-II Samuel

(in production) VCD Samuel

8. Audio and picture charts on AIDS prevention/awareness.

Used with Resource #6 – The Oral Bible School

Samaritans’ Purse

AIDS and other health issues materials

9. Orality in discipleship

Making Disciples of Oral Learners

ION (International Orality Network) & LCWE

ICC Language Development team

Book

10. Film Jesus Film Video format

11. Various orality resources

www.oralbible.com ION Online Website

12. Various orality resources

www.oralitystrategies.org

IMB Online Website

NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list.

The resources listed include those available for the Khmer language in April 2008.

278

Derived from list prepared in April 2008 by Rachel Hurley, SIL member working in Cambodia with ICC